Video Speech by Mr. Ferrari, Minister for Fisheries and Blue Economy of Seychelles at China-Indian Ocean Region Forum on Development Cooperation

Video Speech by Mr. Ferrari, Minister for Fisheries and Blue Economy of Seychelles at China-Indian Ocean Region Forum on Development Cooperation

Kunming, Yunnan Province, China

21 November, 2022

Excellencies,

Distinguished guests,

Ladies and gentlemen,

Best greetings of the day. Let me start by personally thanking the People's Government of Yunnan Province of China and the China International Development Cooperation Agency for this initiative and your effort in organizing this event in the spirit of promoting and enhancing cooperation between China and the countries of the Indian Ocean Region.

It is undeniable that the world has been through a series of tribulations over these past years, which has left us all in a place of uncertainty, to say the least.

The whole world was tested and put on survival mode. Some faced poverty and starvation, others' health systems collapsed, unemployment skyrocketed, and economies were hitting all-time lows.

Seychelles was no exception to the effects of those dire times. The vulnerability of tourism, the main pillar of our economy, had the most devastating effects of the pandemic, cutting our economic growth in 2021 by record amounts.

Fishing, our second economic pillar, is not entirely problem free despite not being severely affected by the pandemic. Our fish stocks are depleting, leaving our food security at stake. We are faced with the transboundary nightmare of overfishing and illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing. This impacts the reproductive and maturity rates of fish species and causes an imbalance in food chains, and leads to loss of biodiversity.

As you are all aware, the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission (IOTC) had to increase quota restrictions in the region. Yellowfin tuna in the Indian Ocean region is more overfished than any other species in any other part of the world. Most recently, Big Eye stocks have also been identified as being under stress. This is much cause for concern. Seychelles has been forced to limit allowable catches of existing vessels and launched a sensitization programme for our local fishermen on these matters.

Now, more than ever, it is clearly evident that the path to sustainable development is not only favorable, but integral to our very existence. We need to be more resilient and self-reliant, and less vulnerable to external shocks, such as COVID-19 and impacts of the war in Ukraine.

Seychelles is constituted of about 99 percent of ocean. Hence, the ocean is, to our people, everything. It is the source for nutrition and of livelihood; it is our hub for transportation while also being the venue for sports and recreation. People travel across the globe to come tread these pristine waters. We have a precious resource and we are well aware of that. We are equally aware of our responsibility to protect this resource and ensure that its benefits are maintained or even increased for the generations to come.

I want to seize the opportunity to commend China and H.E. President Xi Jinping for the Global Development Initiative (GDI) and on your efforts in upscaling and enhancing south-to-south cooperation and in the vast development assistance you continue to offer the developing world. I would also like to commend your advancements in the marine space, not least in marine ecosystem management and promotion of offshore emission reduction. I am hopeful that these will bring fruitful outcomes and enable you to lead by example in the attainment of sustainable development.

Although Seychelles finds itself saturated in some of the more traditional sectors, we have plenty of areas – some untouched – where we widely welcome investment. Such is in consistence with the principle of finding optimal and most efficient uses of our oceanic resources. The essence of this is well captured within the Blue Economy Cooperation Agreement between Seychelles and China, which we are looking forward to finalizing.

Notably, Seychelles is venturing into emerging sectors such as marine biotechnology and circular economy as part of our development objectives and these sectors are at infant stage. Moreover, we have a fish-processing zone of about 70,000 square kilometers that has been set up to encourage and support more value addition in the fisheries industry.

We also see the need of scientific research, which will help us to know exactly what lies beneath the waters and take the blue economy concept to new heights by incorporating it through evidence-based practices. The China-Africa Ocean Science and Blue Economy Cooperation Centre is a project that would be of invaluable support and would undeniably strengthen ties between China and the region. Seychelles would be honored to accommodate such a centre, which would take marine scientific research to another level and lead to multi-faceted gains.

Similarly, we welcome cooperation in relation to sea cucumber exploration. The three main species of sea cucumber that we have been fishing and exporting are currently under pressure, despite regulations being in place for a number of years. There are also around 20 other sea cucumber species, which call the Seychelles waters home. We are currently very interested in researching the potential commercial uses of these other species and welcome a partnership from China.

There is a fine line between exploitation and conservation, and it goes by the name of 'sustainability'. The answer, in short, is that we practice doing more, with less. We count on your support and offer you our collaboration to continue to operate in this regard.

Our efforts and good cooperation will enable us to see the bright side and find the best possible outcome not just for us, but for the increasingly interconnected world we live in whereby one's action is often far felt, and true isolation is an illusion.

Thank you.