Taiwan’s Ocean Affairs Council Launches First Overseas Action for Indo-Pacific Marine Debris Platform, Promoting Blue Circular Economy and Regional Corporation
- STIC CEGIR
- 8 minutes ago
- 1 min read
Taiwan’s Ocean Affairs Council (OAC) held the “2025 Indo-Pacific Taiwan-Thailand Resilient Partnership Workshop” in Bangkok, marking the first overseas initiative of the Indo-Pacific Marine Debris Collaboration Platform. The event brought together government officials, academics, and NGOs from Taiwan, Japan, South Korea, and Thailand to share successful practices on marine debris recycling, scientific monitoring, and community mobilization. Taiwan showcased its creative reuse of discarded styrofoam fishing gear into “Lucky Cat” figurines, while Thailand presented a high-value surfboard project made from recycled fishing gear, a collaboration between the company Starboard and local volunteer group Trash Hero Bangkok. These initiatives demonstrate the viability of a blue circular economy that creates both social and economic benefits.
OAC Minister Kuan Bi-Ling stated that Taiwan will continue to deepen corporation with Japan, Korea, Thailand and other ASEAN countries on abandoned fishing gear issues. The goal is to establish institutionalized public-private dialogue mechanisms to enhance cross-border collaboration in reduction, recycling, and circular use. The OAC emphasized that since the Indo-Pacific Marine Debris Collaboration Platform was launched last year, it has brought together stakeholders across sectors from the Indo-Pacific region. Through pilot projects and pragmatic into a long-term, institutionalized model—positioning itself as a “Resilient Ocean Partner” and setting a regional benchmark for marine debris governance.
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