OUR PARTNERS

The strength of PEMSEA lies in its partnerships—Country Partners and Non-Country Partners all working together towards the health of our shared East Asian seas. Partnerships enable PEMSEA to address a broad range of priority issues, coordinating and applying resources, skills and expertise for effective implementation of the Sustainable Development Strategy for the Seas of East Asia (SDS-SEA). Programs and activities under the SDS-SEA cut across a variety of coastal and ocean-related issues such as biodiversity, pollution, fisheries and aquaculture, maritime transport, investment, scientific research, watershed/river basin management and climate change and disaster risk reduction and management. 

PEMSEA’s Country Partnerships were formalized through the Haikou Partnership Agreement, signed by 11 countries on 15 December 2006. The agreement established PEMSEA as the regional coordinating mechanism for the implementation of the SDS-SEA. On 16 December 2006, 12 additional stakeholders including technical organizations, industry associations, NGOs and regional programs signed the Partnership Operating Arrangements, thus becoming the first group of non-governmental organizations to be formally recognized as PEMSEA Partners for the implementation of the SDS-SEA. In addition to 20 Non-Country partners today, PEMSEA has established a powerful network of Regional Centers of Excellence and ICM Learning Centers and the PEMSEA Network of Local Governments. 

PEMSEA continually seeks opportunities to form new partnerships in support of SDS-SEA implementation. Through the combined strengths, expertise and resources of our partnership network, we can achieve the collective goal of our partners—over 20% coverage of the region’s coastline under integrated coastal management (ICM).