Work Briefing

                                                                                  Volume 1
                                                     Secretariat of WOW organizing committee
                                                                               1 June, 2009

[Organizing Review]
                                                Deputy Administrator Director-General meet
                                                     WOW Organizing Conference participants
        2009 World Ocean Week Organizing Conference convened in State Oceanic Administration on March 26. The Deputy Co-chair of WOW Organizing Committee, Deputy Administrator Chen Lianzeng meet Xiamen Vice-Mayor Pan Shijian, leaders and representatives from WOW Sponsors and Collaborators.

                                   Director-General Zhang Zhanhai and Vice Mayor Pan Shijian
                                                      attended WOW Organizing Conference
       The First WOW Organizing Conference convened in Beijing on March 26. The attendees include leaders and representatives from WOW Sponsors and Collaborators, and WOW Secretariat staff. The meeing was chaired by Mr. Zhang Zhanhai, WOW Organizing Committee Secretary-General and Director-General of Department of International Cooperation, SOA. Mr. Pan Shijian, WOW Organizing Committee Vice Chair and Secretary-General and Vice Mayor of Xiamen Municipal Government, addressed the meeting.

                Mr. Cai Shouguo, Secretary of general office of Xiamen Municipal Government, 
                              and Mr. You Youxiiong, Deputy Secretary general of Xiamen 
                                                     Municipal Government convened 
                              “The First Organizing Committee Meeting of 2009 WOW”
       On April 24, Secretary Cai Shouguo and Deputy Secretary general You Youxiong jointly convened “The First Organizing Committee Meeting of 2009 WOW”. Leaders and representatives from all member units of the Organizing Committee attended the meeting, in which WOW Secretariat released the overall programme of 2009WOW, the job responsibilites for each member unit were defined and each member unit gave their proposals on their respective duties. At the end of the meeting, Secretary Cai Shouguo further stressed the job responsiblities division and called for each member unit to make careful preparations.

[Invitation]
                                                     The invitation has been fully launched
    Under the leadership of each sponsor and collaborator, the preparatory work of 2009WOW goes smoothly and has some gains. At present, the invitation has been fully launched. The Secretariat has already extended the invitation to sponsors, international organizations, foreign government departments and experts from home and abroad, to make presenations at the main forum. It has also sent invitation letters to over 80 foreign and domestic coastal cities and over 30 developing countries. The details are as follows:
    1、Invitation to Sponsors
         Leaders from sponsor units (SOA, UNDP China, PEMSEA) are invited to attend WOW. Some leaders and representatives from these units are invited to attend WOW and make presentations in the main forum.
    2、Invitation to speakers in the main forum
     international organizations
      Invitation letters to Dr. Jihyun Lee with CBD and International Committee on Oceans, Islands and Coasts have been sent out.
      foreign government departments
      Invitation letter to Felipe Hilan A. Nava, Governor of Province of Guimaras, Philippines, have been sent out.
      Experts from home and abroad
      Invitation letters to Prof. Yonathan Zohar, Director of Center of Marine Biotechnology University of Maryland Biotechnology Institute, Dr. Osamu Matsuda, Professor Emeritus of Hiroshima University, Japan, and Dr. Robert C Beckman, Professor in Faculty of Law of Natioanl University of Singapore haven been sent out. Two academician from China Academy of Engineering are also invited.
       Domestic coastal cities
       Mr. Mao Guanglie, Mayor of Ningbo City, has been invited. Besides, Representative from Xiamen City will also make a presentation in Session “Exchanges of Experience” of the main forum.
       3、Invitation to ordinary participants
       Foreign and domestic coastal cities
       Over 50 foreign coastal cities including Brisbane, Vancouver, Helsingborg, Baltimore, and 29 domestic coastal cities including Dalian, Shanghai, and Shenzhen are invited.
       Foreign government departments
      More than 60 goernment official from nearly 30 developing countries are invited.

[Organizing Progression]
                                                         Minutes of the First Working Meeting 
                                                         of the Organizing Committee of WOW
       On Mar.26, 2009 the First Working Meeting of the Organizing Committee was convened in the Meeting Room of China State Oceanic Administration (SOA). Leaders and delegates of each sponsors and collaborators as well as relevant Secretariat staff took part in the meeting. Although one of the sponsors, PEMSEA, wasn’t able to attend it due to time conflict, it has sent an email to express its positive support and involvement in WOW.
The meeting was chaired by Mr. Zhang Zhanhai, Secretary-General of the Organizing Committee and Director-General of the Department of International Cooperation of SOA. Mr. Pan Shijian, Vice-chairman & Secretary-General of the Organizing Committee and Vice Mayor of Xiamen People’s Municipal Government, addressed the meeting.
       Participating delegates discussed and deliberated on “The Overall Programme of WOW’2009”, “The Institutional Framework of WOW’2009”, and the working division of the preparatory work of WOW’2009. Activities that will be organized by each relevant organizer were another focus of the meeting. Summary of the meeting is as follows:
       I. About the Overall Programme of WOW’2009
       The meeting principally approved “The Overall Programme of WOW'2009”, but put forth some specific comments on several issues:
       1. On the theme of WOW’2009: under the major theme of “Promoting Marine Ecological Civilization”, the sub-theme has been changed from “Island Management—Protection and Sustainable Utilization” to “Protection and Sustainable Utilization of Islands”.
       2. On the Main Forum: as the core of WOW, the Main Forum is a primary activity to attract the eye and cause for concern. Duration of it is suggested to remain one day. The meeting also emphasized the importance of summarizing and refining the results of the forum and submitting it after the occasion to China SOA and relevant international organizations for reference. It is also suggested that the topic need further modification.
       3. On the Marine Science & Technology Forum: name of the Forum differs from its content mentioned in the Overall Programme, thus is suggested to be changed to “International Forum on the Integrated Management of Basins and Estuarine Waters”.
       4. On strengthening the cooperation with WWW: participating delegates regarded it good to co-host related activities with the Organizing Committee of WWW during WOW’2009, and recommended that a stable cooperative mechanism should be gradually built up in accordance to the model so as to expand and deepen the communication and cooperation with WWW.
      5. On the Ocean-theme Exhibitions: it was suggested to combine the “China International Leisure Fishery Fair” and the “International Fishery Fair", which is to be held in Oct. in Xiamen, into a “China (Xiamen) International Fishery Fair”, and to add Chinese Association of Fishery Circulation and Processing and Fujian Provincial Association of Fishery Circulation and Processing into the list of sponsors and cooperators respectively.
      6. On the Working Meetings of the Organizing Committee: it has been decided that the Second Working Meeting is to be held in Oct. to check on the completion of the preparatory work of WOW’2009 as well as to discuss and determine the approach of next year’s preparatory work.
      7. Other advice: participating delegates proposed to establish a Scientific & Technological Committee of WOW (or an Expert Advisory Panel), which will be responsible for the study of the themes and topics of the forums and their qualities. It should also carry out the invitation work with definite aims in view and ensure the high-specification, high-level, internationality, progressiveness and sustainability of WOW.
      II. On the Institutional Framework of WOW’2009
      In the Organizing Committee of WOW, one of the former United-chairs, Mr. Ma Heli from UNDP China, is replaced by Mr. Nan Shubi, the Country Director of UNDP China; create a Vice-chairman post, including Mr. Chen Lianzeng, Deputy Director-General of China SOA, and Mr. Pan Shijian, Vice Mayor of Xiamen People’s Municipal Government; principles from Xiamen Road & Bridge Construction Group and Xiamen Port Holding Group Co. have also been added into the members list. In order to further highlight the international influence of WOW, delegates tabled a proposal of inviting international organizations of global influence like Global Environment Facility (GEF) and World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) to co-host the forums and activities. However, given that time presses for the preparatory work this year, the list of the organizers stays the same for the year.
      III. On the Marine Cultural Activities
      The meeting passed in principal the general framework of the marine cultural activities, yet some delegates gave several pieces of advice on some specific activities: first, after approving the effect of the WOW concert, suggested to add more programs that could highlight its ocean-theme; second, the “Chinese Undergraduate Marine Knowledge Competition” was advised to be extensively mobilized as well as innovative in its form, thus to attract the eye of those specializing in non-marine areas and include them in WOW. Differences between “Chinese Undergraduate Marine Knowledge Competition” and “Four Regions of Cross-strait Undergraduates’ Marine Knowledge Competition” were further clarified: the former is for individual Chinese undergraduates, while the latter is for teams of college students from the Mainland, Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan. It was also recommended to lay out a marine science knowledge display during WOW’2009 using related materials of 7.18 Chinese National Ocean Day.
      IV. On the Working Division
      The meeting discussed and passed the working division for each organizer, cooperator and other relevant organizations. (See the attachment)
At last, it was demanded that:
       i. after the meeting, the Secretariat should timely modify the Overall Programme of WOW’2009 and send the newly revised material to all relevant organizations, who are hoped to share their written comments of it.
       ii. after the meeting, the Secretariat needs to fully launch the invitation work as soon as possible.
       iii. when WWW'2009 is held, it is recommended to organize a group either in the name of China SOA or the Organizing Committee of WOW to take part in the occasion with the aim of learning from it.

Participants:
       Mr. Zhang Zhanhai、Mr. Liang Fengkui、Mr. Yang Yafeng、Mr. Xu Yan（China SOA）; Mr. Guo Yinfeng（UNDP China）; Mr. Pan Shijian、Mr. Cai Shouguo、Mr. Zhou Lumin（Xiamen People’s Municipal Governme）; Mr. Hong Huasheng（Xiamen University）;Mr. Gai Guangsheng、Mr. Yangwei（China Ocean News Agency）; Mr. Shi Qingfeng（China Ocean Press）; Mr. Zhu Lei（COMRA）; Mr. Meng Fantao（Chinese Society of Oceanography）;Mr. Cai Feng（The Third Institute of Oceanography, SOA）; Mr. Wu Fenwu（Fujian Provincial Oceanic and Fishery Bureau）; Mr. Liu Di（Xiamen Radio & Broadcast Group）

                                                          Xiamen Municipal Government established 
                                                                   2009 WOW Organizing Committee
      In order to strengthen marine management in Xiamen City, promote sustainable development of marine economy, strengthen exchange and cooperation between international organizations, costal cities home & aboard and Xiamen, upgrade international prestige and influence of Xiamen, to ensure a successful holding of "2009 Xiamen World Ocean Week ", Xiamen Municipal Government set up a 2009 WOW Organization Committee which vice mayor Pan Shijian work as director, Secretary of General Office (Xiamen Municipal Government) Cai Shouguo and Deputy secretary-General (Xiamen Municipal Government) You Youxiong and Lin Haiqing Director (Oceans and Fisheries Bureau of Xiamen) work as deputy-directors, the members come from the General Office of Municipal Government, Municipal Propaganda Department and so on.
                                                             The Municipal Government of Xiamen 
                                                                       Printed the 2009 WOW Plan
       "World Ocean Week in Xiamen [2009]" will be held on 6th-12th, Nov. In order to do a good job, Xiamen municipal government issued "World Ocean Week in Xiamen [2009] program plan" to the People's District Government and departments directly under municipal government. At the same time point out:
First, all relevant departments should set up a leading group in charge of WOW activities, fix leaders and the specific working departments and contacts.
Second, the relevant responsible departments should draw up a specific work program depending on actual situation of the activities。
Third, to ensure a successful activity of WOW, the relevant departments should ensure the supporting of logistics.

[Related Information]
The Activities of 2009 National Marine Awareness Day will be held in Zhuhai
      “The activities of 2009 National Marine Awareness Day” will be held in Zhuhai during 18th-20th, July. Six series of activities will be colorful.
The activities of Zhuhai mainly is six series, which include “The Activities of 2009 National Marine Awareness Day”, “The Opening Ceremony of National Marine Awareness Day & Presentation Ceremony of Marine Achievement Award”, the highest level forum of “The 2009 Marine Forum in China”, the drumbeating of marine knowledge, the beach cleanness and the activities of exhibition. And there are other drumbeating activities in other cities on 18th.
During that time, the first marine-expo of China & “The Achievement Exhibition of Marine Industry during 60 years” will be held in the air show centre of Zhuhai. This marine-expo will be participated by 11 provinces, include Guangdong, Fujian, Zhejiang, Shanghai and so on. Except showing the new technologies and products, this marine-expo will show the physical model of “The Ocean Number 1”---the main ship of China’s ocean scientific expedition.
The marine bureaus of 11 provinces (autonomous regions, municipality governed by central government), SOA and its agencies will set their own pavilion in the marine-expo.