Written by MFOR Media on 07 January 2025.
Kiribati has strong fishing bilateral relationships with a number of countries including South Korea. For over a decade, Kiribati and South Korea have strengthened their partnership through their Joint Venture Companies which focused on mutual arrangements relating to fishing for raw tuna materials for Korean companies and the provision of revenues through access fees for Kiribati. On 20 – 21 December 2024, a successful board meeting of these Joint Venture companies was held between Kiribati and the South Korean Companies, Dongwon Industriea, SILLA Co Ltd, and Sajo Industries Co Ltd in Brisbane, Australia. These deals will enable business operations for the new year 2025 with more exciting onshore developments for Kiribati in the future. Honourable Minister Ribanataake Tiwau acknowledged the long-standing and fruitful partnerships between the Government of Kiribati and these Korean companies and their direct contributions to the economic aspirations of both parties.
The Kiribati CA is grateful to have participated in the team leaders meeting held in Brisbane from December 16th to 20th, 2024. This meeting provided a valuable opportunity for regional CAs to exchange information, share ideas, and discuss challenges related to market access requirements. Maintaining access to global markets is essential for the economic development of all Pacific nations, and Kiribati acknowledges the importance of staying aligned with these requirements. We extend our sincere gratitude to the Forum Fisheries Agency for their ongoing technical and financial support, which plays a crucial role in ensuring the success of these discussions and initiatives.
The Geo-science Division (GSD) of the MFOR team meets with UNDP officials for discussions on the new Project, called “Enhancing Whole of Islands approach to strengthen Community Resilience to Climate and Disaster Risks in Kiribati" (WOIA). The project aims to address the exacerbation of climate change on coastal infrastructure, water security and food security by increasing community resilience to the impacts of climate change, climate variability and disasters and building capacities at national and island levels. MFOR has an important role to contribute to this project through coastal and ocean assessments. MFOR acknowledges UNDP for kick-starting the consultations of this project which will provide support to the Office of the President (OB) and all relevant stakeholders including GSD for its implementation.
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