And those are among the central concerns of the Ministry of Blue Economy.
That Ministry had an event today in Belmopan, where its Minister and the President of the University of Belize signed a Memorandum of Understanding for collaboration. The two sides believe that a deeper partnership is mutually beneficial, and today, they formalized their intention to work together via an MOU.
Our news team was in Belmopan for that event, and Daniel Ortiz reports:
The Ministry of the Blue Economy and Civil Aviation has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the University of Belize.
The premise of this agreement is that the two sides will work together to educate Belizeans who will be qualified for job postings connected to this emerging Ministry, which is only a few years old.
Abner Andre Perez, Minister of Blue Economy
"The signing of this MOU is very timely, as only two weeks ago in San Pedro, Ambergris Caye, we officially launched Belize's first-ever Blue Economy Development Policy and Strategy and the first Belize Maritime Economy Plan. It is important to highlight that the Blue Economy Development and Strategy has identified and set forth the priority area of capacity building, education and research. It is necessary for the sustainable development of Belize's Blue Economy. We hope to collaborate with national and international entities to work toward reducing the skills gap between education offers and labor market needs in Belize, improving communication and cooperation between education and blue industries."
Dr. Vincent Palacio, UB President
"We have a friend that goes back to the inception of the Ministry, Minister. When Dr. Rogers completed one of her research on sea cucumber, she made it her duty to stop in at your ministry to share with CEO Kennedy her findings. That's the kind of relationship we have, and it will only get better. When we were out at Calabash Caye, our research facility on Turnoff, CEO Kennedy and I walked the perimeters of the facility, and we discussed ways in which we could work together to improve that facility. Again, this happened without an MOU. It happened because of the friendship and the partnership that exists. So, this MOU is formalizing things."
Francis Fonseca, Minister of Education
"If we are truly going to prepare Belize for the future economy that we want, that will attract high-paying jobs, high-skilled jobs that will provide real, meaningful opportunities for these young people that you see here today, the students graduating from the University of Belize, we have to expand the economy. We have to diversify the economy. We have to create new avenues for economic growth and development. And that is where the Blue Economy and Civil Aviation, I think, and I believe, will play a leading role"
Reporter
"So, what exactly does this MOU mean for collaboration between the government and this arm of Academia?"
Abner Andre Perez, Minister of Blue Economy
"One is to work toward the development of a Blue Economy Research Center; Two, collaborative support to the management of maritime protected areas through joint training, research projects, and technical programs to enable knowledge transfer and research collaboration. Three, to seek sponsorship and aid in the delivery of an annual symposium focused on the Blue Economy. Four, seek sponsorship and aid in the delivery of an annual aviation day to focus on the workings of the Belize Department of Civil Aviation, as well as for the dissemination of general aviation information for the overall sector. We also - five - want to promote other public education campaigns that sensitize and educate Belizeans on the various aspects of the Blue Economy and Civil Aviation and the range of opportunities both sectors that can offer. Six is to explore novel and innovative alternative economic opportunities in both the Blue Economy and Civil Aviation. And finally, seven, we'll undertake to develop, where appropriate, joint project proposals for presentation to development agencies and institutions to support research and development relevant to the Blue Economy and Civil Aviation."
The two sides also find a common cause in research on Belize's Blue Economy for better policy crafting and decision-making, which is based on information and facts.
Abner Andre Perez, Minister of Blue Economy
"We must work toward generating, monitoring, collecting, and analyzing information and data about Belize's national, coastal and marine resources, which is necessary to sustainably develop our ocean economy, enhance our sustainability, and inform national policy direction, management, and investment opportunities and marine spatial planning, among many other fields."
Dr. Vincent Palacio, UB President
"We also realize that we have professionals who would do research, research in various aspects of the Blue Economy; for example, we have Dr. Arlene Rogers, a faculty member of ours, who does work with sea cucumber. Now, this type of research could guide policy-making could guide planning in the Blue Economy space."
From the perspective of the leadership of the University of Belize, its educational offerings must line up with the always-evolving employment needs of the country.
Dr. Vincent Palacio, UB President
"Here at UB, we want to be relevant. All of our programs, we have to align with where it is needed. And here, we have a scenario with the Ministry of Blue Economy and Civil Aviation, where - and we heard how important these two government units are in the Ministry. Hence, here at UB, we offer programs that directly feed into what they're doing there. So, we now have to become more relevant in those course offerings. For us, we're doing our program review of these programs. So now, we're incorporating elements of the Blue Economy into some of these courses, like our natural resources management program and our marine biology program. All these programs now we will make sure that they're relevant to what is required of particularly the graduates when they complete the program."
Abner Andre Perez, Minister of Blue Economy
"There's so much to do, not only in marine biology, mariculture, [and] renewable energy - all of these things fall under what is the Blue Economy. So, we're saying that we have to build capacity. And the only way to do it is by working through a national university, hence this MOU that we're signing today."
The MOU will last for five years with the option to renew.
