"Maritime Economy and Environment" remained in focus on the second day of the 7th International Maritime Conference 2017 held on 'Strategic Outlook in the Indian Ocean Region, 2030 and Beyond: Evolving Challenges and Strategies'. The first speaker of the day, Rear Admiral Pervez Asghar (retd) expressed his thoughts on "Emerging Opportunities in the Indian Ocean Trade Regime".
Kamran Nasir CEO, JS Global Bank discussed the export opportunities for Pakistan arising out of increased maritime connectivity in the western Indian Ocean Region. He was followed by Admiral Dr Jayanath Colombage (retd) from Sri Lanka, who dwelt on the issues of "Economic Impact of Sustainable Fisheries Management in the Indian Ocean Region". Dr Ijaz Shafi Gillani, Chairman Gallup Pakistan was the chief guest of this session.
The following session of the day was on the theme of Marine Environment and Ocean Governance in which Dr Wang Dakui from China emphasized on having a cooperative mechanism for Indian Ocean Region to deal with environmental hazards and early warning risk assessment. Dr Steen Christensen, from International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), shed light on regional collaboration amongst countries in the Indian Ocean for better coastal management and ocean governance.
Dr Nuzhat Khan from National Institute of Oceanography (NIO) presented a paper on "Marine Protected Areas and Challenges to Local Populace from Conservation and Marine Ecosystem". Dr Shahid Amjad from Institute of Business Management discussed medium and long term issues affecting management of sustainable fisheries in Indian Ocean.
Abdul Munaf Qaimkhani, Deputy Inspector General Forests was the Chief Guest of the Session.
The 7th International Maritime Conference is being held in tandem with the 5th biennial multinational Naval Exercise "AMAN 2017". The events are being attended by more than 36 Navies including eminent speakers and delegations from across the globe.-PR