[Asia Economy Reporter Kwangho Lee] The Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries announced on the 21st that it will jointly host the '2020 14th World Ocean Forum' with Busan Metropolitan City, Busan Ilbo, and the Korea Maritime Industry Association from the 27th to the 29th at the Lotte Hotel in Busan.
The forum will be attended by about 50 experts from all maritime fields including marine environment, shipbuilding, shipping, ports, and finance, including Moon Seong-hyeok, Minister of Oceans and Fisheries, and Park Seong-hoon, Deputy Mayor for Economic Affairs of Busan Metropolitan City, while adhering to COVID-19 prevention guidelines. Key overseas figures such as Peter Thomson, UN Special Envoy for the Ocean, are expected to participate online. The event will also be broadcast live via the World Ocean Forum website and YouTube.
Held under the theme "One more Step toward Sustainable Future of Oceans," this year’s forum consists of a keynote session, four regular sessions, four special sessions, a closing session, and three special programs, totaling 13 programs. Speakers and discussants from 12 countries will gather for lively discussions.
In the keynote session, Peter Thomson will deliver a lecture titled "One more Step toward the Future, Oceans in the New Normal Era." Through his keynote speech, he will propose community action plans for practical alternatives such as reducing plastics, as well as for reducing carbon emissions and conserving fishery resources.
Additionally, the regular sessions on fisheries, marine environment, shipbuilding, and shipping, ports, and finance will discuss sector-specific topics including ▲ domestic and international trends and prospects of eco-friendly aquaculture industry ▲ effective solutions to marine plastic problems ▲ recent technological trends in the rapidly changing global shipbuilding market and strategies to strengthen the competitiveness of the Korean shipbuilding industry ▲ domestic and international trends and prospects of the shipping, port, and financial markets. The closing session will summarize discussions from each sector.
Moreover, the special sessions will cover ▲ Korea-style New Deal policies and collaboration strategies for domestic maritime cities ▲ expansion of marine official development assistance (ODA) projects and strategies for utilizing city diplomacy ▲ patterns of private exchanges in the "Pyohaerok" and exploration of cultural content elements, and a maritime startup competition will also be held.
As for special programs, one-on-one online business meetings will be promoted between the Embassy of Canada in Korea, the Nova Scotia Marine Technology Council of Canada, and domestic shipbuilding and marine companies. Additionally, the marine environment-related film "Blue" will be screened, and marine environment campaigns will be conducted.
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