Recognizing the serious impacts that climate change is having and will continue to impart upon the region in the foreseeable future, the Third Ministerial Forum focused on ways and means of enhancing social, economic and ecosystem resiliency to climate change through adaptation programs. The Forum came up with strategies and targets for assisting the most susceptible coastal areas, habitats and sectors of society in the EAS region, along with improved collaboration and cooperation among countries, regional and subregional projects and programmes, and international organizations.

The Third Ministerial Forum provided policy direction for improving and strengthening the implementation of the Sustainable Development Strategy for the Seas of East Asia (SDS-SEA), i.e., the adopted regional strategy of the PEMSEA Country and non-Country Partners. The Ministers from PEMSEA participating countries delivered updates on their countries’ efforts in sustainable coastal and ocean development, and reconfirmed their individual and collective commitments to continuously address existing and emerging challenges besetting the East Asian Seas. In line with previous Ministerial Forums conducted in 2003 and 2006, wherein the Putrajaya Declaration and the Haikou Partnership Agreement for the Implementation of the SDS-SEA were respectively signed, the 2009 Ministerial Forum is expected to agree on new targets for the PEMSEA Country and non-Country Partners for SDS-SEA implementation to 2012.

This high-level gathering was held immediately following the Closing Ceremony and Reporting of Outcomes of the International Conference. During the Reporting of Outcomes, the Ministers received summaries of recommendations and suggestions based on the outcomes/outputs of the International Conference. The reports or recommendations received served as the Ministers’ bases in assessing the status and achievements within the region as well as the necessary directions to be undertaken to improve and strengthen the coastal and ocean governance in the region. This Forum also featured the country presentations/reports by each Minister on the actions undertaken by their respective countries in line with the implementation of the SDS-SEA.

Ministerial Forum Opening Ceremony Keynote Speaker

H.E. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, President, Republic of the Philippines

The President of the Philippines, Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, holds many records. Elected as Senator during her first try in politics in 1992, she was re-elected Senator in 1995. She was elected Vice President of the Philippines in 1998. She was sworn in as the 14th President of the Philippines on 20 January 2001 by Chief Justice Hilario Davide Jr.