Commonwealth ministers’ meeting on oceans to open in Paphos

An opening reception on Thursday at 7pm will kick off the proceedings of the Commonwealth ministers’ meeting on oceans, which will officially start on Friday in Kouklia, near Paphos.

The opening reception of the meeting, which will be called “Our Resilient Common Ocean: from Cyprus to Samoa”, will feature speeches by Agriculture Minister Maria Panayiotou and by Deputy Minister of Shipping Marina Hadjimanolis.

The meeting will be attended by government ministers and senior officials from across the Commonwealth and is an opportunity for member countries to voice their concerns.

Coastal states make up 49 out of the 56 Commonwealth members and all countries depend on the ocean for trade, transportation, access to resources and for security.

Commonwealth ministers responsible for ocean affairs will meet with the aim of establishing the principles, priorities and actions for a Commonwealth Ocean Declaration, and to agree on a roadmap to pave the way for adoption of the declaration at the Commonwealth heads of government meeting (CHOGM) in Samoa this year.