Malta: WestMED Conference 2023 – More than 100 stakeholders gather to discuss Blue Economy developments and opportunities

This year’s WestMED Stakeholder Conference was hosted in Malta on June 22, 2023.  More than 100 stakeholders from around the region, gathered in-person to exchange experiences on a wide variety of blue economy topics and meet fellow experts. National representatives of the Initiative together with senior regional experts and key institutional representatives shared their views, including Aaron Farrugia, Minister for Transport of Malta, Mohamed Ould Abidine Maayif, Mauritanian Minister for Fishery and Maritine Economy, Adriana Salazar from the Union for the Mediterranean and Charlina Vitcheva, EU Director General for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries. The Parliamentary Assembly of the Mediterranean (PAM) was represented by Katya De Giovanni, Head of the Maltese Delegation to PAM. This year’s edition of the Conference focused on “Boosting the Sustainable Blue Economy” and highlighted the Initiative’s activities on Sustainable Aquaculture, Green Shipping, Ports, Maritime Clusters, Maritime Spatial Planning, Sustainable Tourism, and Ocean Literacy. Project leaders in each of these fields were invited to share their experiences which resulted in lively discussions during 4 break-out thematic sessions where developments and challenges were discussed (see the conference 2023 page for the summary-recordings of these discussions).