MEMBERS attending the 19th Plenary of the Contact Group on Piracy off the Coast of Somalia, CGPCS, proposed at the closing of the event yesterday afternoon, 3rd June 2016, that Seychelles should remain as chair of the Contact Group for the year 2017.
This would commence as of January 1st 2017.
Seychelles was proposed as chair for the year 2016 by the European Union, this at the 18th Plenary held in New York City, in July 2015. At this 19th Plenary, Italy, Norway, India, China, UK, Australia, Germany, Kenya, made representations that the Seychelles should remain as chair. Noting the theme of the Chair, ‘From the Region to the Region: Creating a Lasting Legacy’, all members present commended the work of the Seychelles Government to date and that of the Chair, Minister Joël Morgan, Minister for Foreign Affairs and Transport, while as well encouraging more regional participation and engagement.
The 19th CGPCS Plenary which started on the 31st of May 2016 concluded in the early evening of the 3rd of June 2016, with members agreeing that the next plenary, to be held sometime in 2017 at a location yet to be decided, would consider different proposals to streamline its approach, considering that at the time of the 19th Plenary, that piracy continued to be degraded and that no successful attacks by pirates had been recorded, this for a number of years. There was agreement as well that the work and brand name of the CGPCS must be preserved.
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