Fiji re-elected to International Seabed Authority

Fiji has been re-elected to the Council of International Seabed Authority by the 160 countries represented on the Council at a meeting in Kingston, Jamaica last week.

Fiji was represented at the meeting by our Ambassador to the Mission in New York Peter Thompson.

The 160 member Authority elects 36 of its member countries to serve on the Council that guides the Authority's work.

Fiji's four year term on the Council expired this year, but after receiving the endorsement of the Authority's Asian Group, Fiji was re elected to serve for another four years.

The International Seabed authority is an autonomous international organization established by the United Nations Convention of the Law of the sea.

It has the responsibility of the administering and controlling seabed activities outside national boundaries, for good of all mankind.

The Ministry of Information confirmed that Ambassador Thompson was elected to chair this year's meeting of the Asian Group within the Authority.

The Asian Group was able to agree on a clean slate for its nominees for the council elections, thanks to a compromise whereby Sri Lanka and Qatar will share one of the nine seats available to the Asian Group by dividing one of the four-year terms in half.

The other eight Asian Group countries serving on the Council are: Bangladesh, China, Fiji, India, Indonesia, Japan, Korea and Vietnam.