ReCAAP, MPA and MOFA Japan Hold Anti-Piracy Capacity Building Forum

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan (MOFA Japan) and the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA), in cooperation with the ReCAAP Information Sharing Centre (ReCAAP ISC), jointly organised the 3rd Capacity Building Executive Programme (CBEP) in Singapore. The one-week programme begins today, and will end on 13 September 2019.

Since the inaugural edition in 2017 held in both Singapore and Japan, CBEP has become the region’s flagship counter-piracy and sea robbery capacity building programme, with all 20 ReCAAP Contracting Parties as well as Indonesia and Malaysia having participated in previous editions.

This year’s edition will see senior officials and international experts address a broad spectrum of piracy and sea robbery issues including:

• Situation Update on Piracy and Armed Robbery against Ships in Asia
• Evolving Situation and Advisory in the Sulu-Celebes Seas
• Situation in the East and West Africa
• Sharing of best practices and experiences of participating countries
• UNCLOS, SUA Convention, Hostage Convention as applied to Piracy and Sea Robbery
• Maritime Cybersecurity

The lectures will be supplemented by in-depth discussions of case studies from regulatory/law-enforcement agencies from across the region.

A dialogue session between regulatory/law enforcement agencies and the shipping industry will be held to promote exchange of views and mutual cooperation.

“With 13 years of efforts and contributions by the ISC and the contracting parties, ReCAAP has proved itself as a successful model of regional cooperation which has made significant progress in mitigating piracy and sea robbery in Asia. Despite the recent trend of decreasing number of piracy incidents, new challenges such as terrorism and cyber attacks have been observed in the maritime domain. Against this backdrop, Japan is pleased to co-host the 3rd programme with Singapore and the ReCAAP ISC, which aims to provide the participants with opportunities to enhance law enforcement capabilities in the efforts of counter-piracy and to learn how to address emerging threats, as well as to exchange views and ideas with regional partners and experts,” said Mr. Hideki Yamaji, Director, Maritime Security Policy Division, MOFA Japan and Acting Japanese Governor to the ReCAAP ISC Governing Council. 

“Singapore is pleased to once again partner Japan to co-host this year’s ReCAAP Capacity Building Executive Programme. Capacity building is one of the pillars of ReCAAP. The sharing of best practices and experiences, and building the collegiality among fellow practitioners, strengthens the network we have. This Programme has contributed greatly to our collective effort in the fight against piracy and armed robbery against ships in Asia,” said Ms. Quah Ley Hoon, MPA's Chief Executive and Singapore Governor to the ReCAAP ISC Governing Council.

“A distinguishing factor of ReCAAP ISC that has led to its success in reducing both the number and severity of incidents in Asia in recent years is the incident reporting and response framework attributing the primary role to the coastal States. The CBEP builds on this framework to enhance the effectiveness of the coastal States in addressing piracy and sea robbery in Asia,” said Mr. Masafumi Kuroki, Executive Director of ReCAAP ISC.