On July 24th, 2020, 1-2 PM UTC, we met Paulo Jorge Lima Veiga, Minister of Maritime Economy, Cabo Verde, who will discuss the development of the Maritime Economy in Cabo Verde and its role in the post-pandemic national economic recovery, namely the fisheries sector, the creation of Campus do Mar, the São Vicente Special Maritime Economic Zone Project, and the country’s economy transition towards the Blue Economy. The moderator was Gui Menezes, Secretary for the Sea, Science and Technology of the Regional Government of the Azores.

Minister Paulo Veiga took office on 10 January 2020 after serving for two years as Assistant Secretary of State for Maritime Economy.  He has academic training in the areas of Business Management and Marketing at the University of Arizona, USA, and more than twenty years of experience in management and administration of relevant companies in the Cabo Verde, in the areas of real estate, civil construction, food products, cement and a , media and communication. He served as a member of the Customs Technical Council and as Vice-president of the Sotavento (Leeward) Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Services. Until he joined the Government, he kept a very fruitful activity linked to sports, associations and social initiatives, either as Manager, Vice-President, President of the Sporting Clube da Praia and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Sociedade Leonina Desportiva, S.A., as well as manager of the Academy School Sporting Praia and Executive Director of the Carlos Albertino Veiga Foundation. Since 2008, Paulo Veiga has actively participated in political life as a Member of the National Political Commission and Member of the South  Santiago Political Commission of the Movement for Democracy Party (MpD). Minister Paulo Veiga was elected, in 2016, as a Member of the National Assembly, when he was appointed as Vice President of the Leadership of the MpD Parliamentary Group, Member of the Specialised Committee on Budget and Finance, and Member of the Board of Directors of the National Assembly of Cabo Verde, representing the MpD. Minister Paulo Veiga was born in Santiago, on January 30, 1975, he is married and has two children.

The Ministry of Maritime Economy, located on the island of São Vicente, is the government department whose mission is to formulate, propose, coordinate, execute and evaluate government public policies in the fields of maritime policy, maritime economy and industry, marine resources, fisheries, aquaculture, ports and maritime transport. It serves as a privileged government tool to drive the accelerated growth of the sector aiming to transforming Cabo Verde into a essential marine platform and maritime logistics in the Atlantic Ocean.

Gui Menezes department oversees the areas of fisheries and aquaculture, oceanographic exploration, sea-related activities, coastal areas and the cooperation with the Maritime Police. It is also in charge of coordinating the policies developed in the areas of Science and Technology in the Azores as well as the relation between the Regional Government and the University of the Azores, and other entities representing the Information Society. He holds a PhD in Marine Ecology from the University of the Azores and a degree in Biology from the Faculty of Sciences of the University of Lisbon. He works as Assistant Researcher at the Department of Oceanography and Fisheries (DOP) of the University of the Azores, which he joined in 1993. His research work has addressed several fields, especially those related to demersal and deep-sea fish species as well as the ecology of the deep sea in general. He has been in charge of coordinating the annual campaigns to monitor the abundance of demersal and deep-sea species in the Azores since 1996.

Cabo Verde Ambition 2030

Like other Small Island Developing States, Cabo Verde has many vulnerabilities. The UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) visibly impacted the Government Program of the 9th Legislature and, consequently, the Strategic Plan for Sustainable Development (PEDS) 2017 – 2021 which is completely aligned with this universal agenda. The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development became Cabo Verde’s agenda as the platform to understand the present and the path for the future of these Atlantic islands. In this context, the Government of Cabo Verde and its Social Partners consider it indispensable to provide the country with strategic guidelines to comply with the SDGs and thus decided to proceed with Cabo Verde Ambition 2030, aiming to:

• Mobilize society and build consensus on strategic guidelines for the sustainable development of Cabo Verde, through thematic studies and debates with an impact on sustainable development;
• Promote the alignment of the main actors of sustainable development on the main strategic guidelines and;
• Prioritise, by national consensus, the SDGs and national and regional goals, adopting accelerators.

Cabo Verde Ambitions 2030 will pay special attention to the challenges and opportunities of the path towards sustainable development, namely the dynamic inclusion of Cabo Verde in the world economic system, sustainable tourism, diversification of the economy, decentralisation, regional development and convergence, the digital economy and innovation, human capital development and new partnerships for sustainable development.

However, the COVID-19 pandemic has profoundly changed the international and national context and that is why it is urgent to boost Ambition 2030, in a new world economic order. Cabo Verde will be one of the most impacted countries, with an economy heavily foreign dependent. Therefore, more than ever, it is important to maintain the challenge of sustainable development, thus valuing endogenous resources, hence the sea.

That is, valuing what we have most abundantly. The sea and the country’s privileged geographic location, for bunkering, maritime transport, ports and logistics, shipbuilding and repair, nautical and recreational tourism, water sports, entertainment and leisure, security and surveillance, the pharmaceutical industry, fishing, aquaculture and the fish industry, research and exploration of biological resources, blue energy, marine ecosystems, wrecked diving vessels, geothermal energy, making this one of the important anchors, the main source of wealth and the maritime economy, one of the largest exporters of services.

These aspects will be some of the themes that will be discussed in this session of the Networking Friday.

We will continue with the Networking Fridays during the next months. More information about future sessions as well as presentations and videos from previous sessions can be found here. Twitter Hashtag: #netfridays. Expect some very exciting afternoons, or mornings or evenings, depending on where you are…

If you need any additional information please send an email to Jose Luiz Moutinho.