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Cooks Get Commonwealth Help For Seabed Mining Management

Saturday: May 17, 2008

(Marianas Variety)

The Commonwealth Secretariat will provide legal and technical assistance to Cook Islands to help the country develop and manage its seabed mineral resources.

A team of legal and economic advisers from the economic and legal section of the Secretariat’s Special Advisory Services Division has been established to deliver the assistance, supplemented where necessary by technical consultants with specialist knowledge of issues relating to deep seabed mineral resources.

Joshua Brien, who will manage the effort says “the purpose of this important project is to assist the government of the Cook Islands to establish modern and effective regulatory arrangements to govern the development and management of potentially lucrative deep seabed mineral resources.

“This is a priority issue for the government, as it seeks to expand, diversify and enhance the nation’s economy. We will seek to work with the government in this process through the provision of targeted legal, economic and technical advice on a range of issues including on the allocation of offshore mining acreage, mining methods and techniques, environmental protection and fiscal management.”

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