What a promising future that is awaiting the human race in general and our Arab world in particular!
We all will benefit from the waters of the seas, oceans, and beaches. As you may know, about three-quarters of our planet is water, and it is high time that exploitation of such a vast and massive area of our planet should start in earnest.
In the 1950s some countries started benefitting from their territorial and colonial waters to serve their fleets, to establish marine sensory systems, and to drill oil and gas. Desalination projects, fishing, and tourism have been, inter alia, widely practiced since.
The West has been very much ahead of us Arabs in the applications of the blue economy, even though, centuries back, we were famous for being world leaders in maritime arsenals and given credit as professional ship builders!
No one should think that the applications of the blue economy are merely a project here or a project there on a seashore or ocean, but they mean a sustainable exploitation of extensive sea and oceanic areas generating solar power from panels built on water, from windmills, and extracting other marine minerals and gas.
We thank God that the United Nations, which also includes our Arab countries, has been alerted to the feasibility of this water economy, which has gained its name from the reflection of a blue sky on water.
Here, in Europe, the European Union, which comprises twenty-seven countries, is now active It has already drawn up its maritime policy in 2006. This policy is based on an ambitious exploitation program that includes fisheries, marine economic activities and integration among its member states in marine mining and In bilateral trade.
Our Arab world is surrounded by two oceans and some of its countries are even overlooking two seas. Through a major joint marine venture, they can achieve sustainable development by adopting a unified policy for this promising blue economy!
Dr. Amin