About ISA Joint Training and Research Centres

Within the framework of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), Section 3 addresses the establishment of National and Regional Marine Scientific and Technological Centres. These centres play a pivotal role in fostering expertise, facilitating research, and promoting responsible marine resource management.

The importance such centres could have in further the programmatic approach to capacity development followed by ISA is also recognized in the Capacity Development Strategy adopted by the Assembly in 2022 (ISBA/27/A/11), which also identifies the role that such centres could play to respond to the needs of developing States Members of ISA, especially least developed countries, landlocked developing countries and small island developing States.

Thus far two training centres have been initiated, respectively: the ISA -China Joint Training and Research Centre which is a national training centre and the ISA -Egypt Joint Training and Research Centre which is a regional training center.

The ISA-China Joint Training and Research Centre (ISA-China JTRC) was established as the first-ever joint training and research centre in Qingdao (China) following the signing of a memorandum of understanding between ISA and the State Oceanic Administration of China in October 2019. The ISA-China JTRC was launched in November 2020 during a virtual ceremony hosted by the Secretary-General Mr. Michael W. Lodge and the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Natural Resources of China, Mr. Wang Hong.

The establishment of the ISA-Egypt JTRC followed the adoption of the memorandum of understanding between ISA and the National Institute of Oceanography and Fisheries of Egypt (ISBA/28/A/13) at the 28th session of the Assembly in July 2023.