Seoul Connects Maritime Capacity-building Activities with IMO

The first regional donor/recipient workshop on maritime Technical Cooperation activities held in Seoul, the Republic of Korea (26-30 November). The workshop built on the long-term resource mobilization strategy for International Maritime Organization (IMO)'s Technical Cooperation activities, approved at the sixty-eighth session of the IMO Technical Cooperation Committee (TCC).

According to a release from IMO, this strategy identified a more proactive and methodical approach with regard to generating new resources by encouraging the development of partnerships with Member States, the United Nations system and multilateral development banks, through the design of new and innovative projects.

The regional workshop brings together officials representing transport ministries, responsible for maritime affairs, and finance ministries, responsible for official development assistance (ODA).

This is the first workshop of its kind since the launch of the Strategy; with participants sharing knowledge, skills and experience as vital resources, as well as providing an invaluable opportunity to network with maritime and development cooperation counterparts from around the region to seek possible cooperation opportunities and to brainstorm on how to increase awareness of and prioritise maritime issues in national development plans.

The workshop has provided a platform for donors to prioritise their interests and to identify the needs and demands of recipient countries; for recipients to have a better understanding of how to access the various resources available to address their needs; to improve the understanding of each other's mechanisms of operation with regard to accessing and delivering funding and support; and to build an enhanced network of knowledge partnerships and communication.

Participating Member States and organizations represented at the workshop were;  Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Myanmar, New Zealand, the Philippines, the Republic of Korea, Singapore, Thailand, Viet Nam and the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP). The workshop was organised by IMO with support from the Government of the Republic of Korea.