Guinea reiterates strong commitment to Fisheries Transparency Initiative

CONAKRY – 15 December 2016. At the occasion of the first official mission of the International Secretariat of the Fisheries Transparency Initiative (FiTI) in the Guinean capital, the President of Guinea, H.E. Prof. Alpha Condé, the Prime Minister H.E. Mamady Youla and the Minister of Fisheries His Excellency André Loua reemphasized the commitment to make Guinea one of the first pilot countries to implement the FiTI.

“The fisheries sector plays an important role for my country thanks to the significant financial and social benefits it generates. It is therefore crucial for us Guineans to exploit our marine resources sustainably. I repeat the words of our President H.E. Prof. Alpha Condé when I say that we are convinced that we can only ensure a sustainable development of our resources if we adopt principles of good fisheries governance in Guinea, principles which are anchored in transparency and in the participation of all relevant stakeholders. I am proud that Guinea forms part of the five FiTI pilot countries and we’ll do everything to accelerate our contribution to the program to be ready for the launch of the FiTI in April”, H.E. André Loua declared.

On behalf of the President, Minister Loua had signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the HUMBOLDT-VIADRINA Governance Platform – currently acting as the International FiTI Secretariat – to support the Republic of Guinea in implementing the first sign-up steps and in developing the detailed Fisheries Transparency Initiative (FiTI) Standard.

This first mission of the International FiTI Secretariat also kicked-off the official launch of the FiTI process in Guinea, gathering at this occasion approx. 80 actors from the government, the industry and the civil society from the fisheries sector.

“I was delighted to see so much enthusiasm for the FiTI in Guinea across all stakeholder groups. I am convinced that this eagerness and the commitment at the highest level to the Principles of the FiTI will be a strong motor for better governance in fisheries in Guinea. Through these first steps, Guinea demonstrates its willingness to work towards the sustainable development of its marine resources to ensure that those resources will continue to benefit the population. This is a very positive sign and I am looking forward to the next steps”, Prof. Dr. Peter Eigen, Chair of the International Advisory Group of the FiTI, said.

Guinea is among the five pilot countries (together with Mauritania, Senegal, the Seychelles and Indonesia) which are already in the process of establishing multi-stakeholder structures in their countries to start the FiTI implementation process, which will be marked by the 2nd International Conference of the FiTI on April 27th 2017 in Bali/Indonesia.