Secretary for Foreign Affairs
Representatives of various ministries
Distinguished Guests,
Since its adoption at the Earth Summit in 1992, we have been celebrating the World
Ocean Day on the 8th of June. It provides us with an opportunity to reflect on, and
celebrate, the life-support system of the Earth: the Oceans are, well and truly, the
“lungs of the earth”.
For Mauritius, this reflection occurs at a critical time in our history. We, as a nation,
are now positioned to look outward and redefine our relationship with the Ocean. As
you are aware, in 2012 Government presented a new programme which sets the
vision on how to move the nation forward.
The current global economic and financial crisis is all the more reason for us to
eschew conventional practices and rethink our economy and lifestyles. It is from this
perspective that Government inter-alia plans to re-orient our future economic
development around the Ocean given the fact that Mauritius controls a sizeable sea
area of around 2.3 million sq km over which we can exercise various economic rights.
The Government Programme 2012-2015, which aims at making Mauritius an Ocean
State implies a radical paradigm shift which I believe is yet to be fully grasped by one
and all.
The transition of our perspective from an Island State to an Ocean State implies that
we Mauritians are now to see ourselves not constrained by the physical limitations of
our shores, but reaching out to the horizon, to grasp outbound opportunities.
We are no longer to see ourselves limited by a lack of land based resources, but rich
of the wealth of our seas which we can potentially exploit in a sustainable manner.
My Ministry has therefore seized this opportunity of the World Ocean Day
celebrated on 8 June last, to initiate a reflection within the civil service on how
together we can make the transformation of this country into an ocean state, a reality
– and which undoubtedly will contribute to the prosperity of our nation.
The purpose of this panel discussion is therefore an invitation to all of us, to take a
bold step – a leap of faith, almost, to reflect on what it means to be an Ocean State.
Distinguished Guests
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The Indian Ocean is a region where much of the economic and strategic dynamics of
the 21st century will be played out. The opportunity of expanding into an Ocean
State has two-fold implications: economic and political.
On the economic front, it is a driver for our foray inter-alia into such sectors as
renewable energy, efficient fisheries and for innovation-driven maritime research and
exploration.
On the political front Mauritius must now develop creative partnerships and
intensify our political, legal, and scientific infrastructural frameworks to capture the
full potential of the Ocean State vision. Mauritius diplomacy in particular must
proactively engage into international initiatives that have a bearing on our
transformation into an Ocean State.
The road to the realisation of such an ambitious goal will no doubt be replete with
challenges. We stand ready to take up those challenges.
The first challenge is the delimitation of our ocean territory. We have recently
successfully defended our case in front of the United Nations Commission on the
Limits of the Continental Shelf to lay claim to our extended continental shelf in the
Mascarene Plateau region.
However we still have a second full submission to be considered by the same UN
Commission pertaining to our extended continental shelf in the Rodrigues region and
a third one in the Chagos Archipelago region.
The extension of our continental shelf invariably impinges on the delimitation of our
EEZ - which exercise requires, sustained diplomatic negotiations with countries of
the region as well as at the multilateral level.
While we are crossing this challenge, we also have to think in terms of what type of
economic activities we can pursue in our waters in a sustainable manner.
As a small Island Developing State, our efforts will be constrained lack of expertise,
lack of technology and funding to embark on those projects. Therefore it is important
that Mauritius be active both in bilateral and multilateral negotiations so that we can
overcome those shortcomings.
In this regard, it is imperative that our Missions be properly informed about the areas
in which foreign assistance is required so that targeted negotiations can be pursued
to enable the country to achieve its goal. Simultaneously, I believe that Mauritius
should pay special attention to ongoing negotiations in international fora where
issues related to ocean matters are being discussed.
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Mauritius is a State Party to the UNCLOS which is considered as the bible for ocean
matters. In addition, Mauritius is a member of other multilateral organisations such
as the International Maritime Organisation and UNEP among others. All those
multilateral organisations are sources of international rules and guidelines governing
ocean matters and their sustainable exploitation and shipping operations. In fact,
several key maritime safety and security conventions have been negotiated under the
auspices of both the IMO and UNCLOS.
And as oceans assume a more strategic and economic importance, more legal
instruments will undoubtedly be crafted by the international community regarding
ocean exploration. Cognisant of the necessity of pursing such explorations in a
sustainable manner, as a Island State, Mauritian diplomacy will have to be alert to
those developments to preserve our own national interests as well as ensuring that
maritime activities are not carried out to the detriment of the health of the oceans.
If we are to shape the future of Mauritius and forge a new destiny for our people, it is
my conviction that we have to make the Ocean State vision a household reality.
Government will provide the framework but ultimately it is up to every citizen to
make the Ocean State vision happen, to be fully aware of our common ownership
and stewardship of 2.3 million square kilometres of Ocean.
While wishing you a fruitful and enriching panel discussion, let me leave you with
these words “There are things which we must learn, but also things which we must
unlearn. This includes the idea that we are small.”
We are not.
Thank You.
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