1st Ministerial Meeting
After a sideline discussion at the Ocean Conference 2017 in New York City and a follow-up Conference on the Archipelagic and Island States Forum in Jakarta in 2017, a common understanding among AIS participating countries was born. The Archipelagic and Island States Forum was then formally established through the adoption of the Manado Joint Declaration during the first Ministerial Meeting of the participating countries on 1st November 2018.
21 archipelagic and island states yielded the establishment of the AIS Forum under the “Manado Joint” declaration, which agreed on a collaborative action in addressing challenges in 4 thematic areas, namely
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Climate change mitigation and adaptation
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Blue economy
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Marine plastic debris
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Good maritime governance.
2nd Ministerial Meeting
The meeting was attended by 25 countries. Prior to the meeting, AIS Startup and Business Summit (SBS) was held and gathered 121 startups that endorsed collaboration and gained partnerships from multiple stakeholders. The gathering of leaders at the highest level will be an opportunity to formally recognize the desire of their people to band together, driven by their shared past and future and find the smart and innovative solutions to address the prevailing problems faced by island countries.
3rd Ministerial Meeting
The Meeting was attended by the representatives of 23 countries, and observed by 1 country and 6 international organizations. The Meeting agrees to foster collaboration in the four key areas discussion namely: sustainable ocean development, blue economy strategic cooperation, blue digital connectivity, and ocean sustainability investment. Recognizing the opportunity for a blue recovery for archipelagic and island countries, the 3rd Ministerial Meeting of the AIS Forum will take the Post-COVID19 recovery and the transition toward a sustainable ocean economy as the main agenda for the discussion. The crisis that the pandemic has brought upon the global community calls for solidarity among the archipelagic and island states as it impacts each country differently. The meeting will discuss the immediate responses that can be coordinated and facilitated by the AIS Forum. At the same time, the meeting will also try to address the economic recovery efforts. Under the Manado declaration and the Final Outcome of 2019, the AIS Forum has set a clear direction to improve the resiliency of coastal communities in AIS Forum through the establishment of the blue economy.
4th Ministerial Meeting
The meeting was attended and participated by more than 21 countries and 2 international organizations representatives from all across archipelagic and island states in the world. Having been established since 2018, this year’s Ministerial Meeting of AIS Forum 2022 carries off the spirit of solidarity by discussing two ambitious agendas: Blue Strategic Cooperation and AIS Forum High-Level Meetings preparation in 2023.
