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On June 13 and 14, 2023, the France Pacific Territories Committee of the PECC (FPTPEC) organized a PECC International seminar in Noumea, New Caledonia, to explore the diversity and complexity of the terms of the debate, with the participation of various stakeholders: companies, researchers, scientists and governments, in order to inform and offer recommendations for the informed implementation of public policies around these still largely unknown virgin spaces.

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Opening and welcoming speech

Pascal Lamy

Chair, France Pacific Territories National Committee for Pacific Economic Cooperation

Yongxin Zhan

PECC Co-Chair, CNCPEC Chair

Richard Cantor

Ph.D., PECC Co-Chair, USPECC Chair

Doriane Sanchez-Le Bris

Chair of the New Caledonian section of FPTPEC

Louis Lefranc

France High Commissioner in New Caledonia

Jérémie Katidjo Monnier

Member of the Government of New Caledonia - in charge of the ecological transition and the Coral Sea Natural Park

Session 1: Deep-sea governance: can we really get everyone to agree?

Geneviève Pons

Director General and Vice President of Europe - Jacques Delors

Lily Xiangxin Xu

Research at the Center for Polar and Deep Ocean Development, KoGuan School of Law, Shanghai Jiao Tong University

Olivier Poivre D'Arvor

French Ambassador for the Poles and Maritime Issues

Virginie Tassin Campanella

Founder & Managing Director of VTA Tassin, Attorney at law (Paris/Zürich), Vice President of Scientific Council of INDEMER

Mazlan Madon

Doctor of Geology, Member of the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf

Francis Vallat

Founder and Honorary Chairman of the French Maritime Cluster

Session 2: The Pacific Islander approach: what if the deep sea had a soul?

Dominique Chu Van

Treasurer of the New Caledonian section of FPTPEC, Former Technical Director of SNL

Alex Herman

Seabed Minerals Commissioner

Jean-Yves Poedi

Ambassador of the Sea and referent for the Customary Senate

Josine Tiavouane

Member of Conservation International

Session 3: Twenty thousand leagues under the sea: how can one live at the bottom of the ocean?

Lionel Loubersac

Founder & Vice-President of the New-Caledonia Maritime Cluster

John Parianos

Technical Director Cook Islands Seabed Minerals Authority

Lauren Mullineaux

Biological oceanographer at Whoods Hole Oceanographic Institution

Kevin Mackay

Marine geologist, Head of the South and West Pacific Data Center for The Nippon Foundation-Seabed 2030 Projec

Kim Picard

Director of the National Seabed Mapping section at Geoscience Australia

Karine Olu

Researcher in deep-sea benthic ecology, Ifremer

Session 4: Journey to the center of... the sea: what technological challenges?

Elodie Leguéré

Associate in Pacific IP Services

Christopher Gyges

Member of the Government in charge of the Digital Economy and the Economy of the Sea

Antoine Queval

Business Development Director at Alcatel Submarine Networks

Jérome Aucan

Head-Pacific Community Centre for Ocean Sciences

Laurent Mingoual

Submarine Cable Project Manager at OPT-NC

Jean-Marc Sornin

CEO Abyssa

Special Session: The Ocean at the heart of global issues: what role for the Asia-Pacific at the United Nations Ocean Conference (Nice, June 2025)

Ashok Adiceam

Principal Councelor of the UN Ocean Conference France 2025

Olivier Poivre D'Arvor

French Ambassador for the Poles and Maritime Issues

Pascal Lamy

Chair, France Pacific Territories National Committee for Pacific Economic Cooperation

Françoise Gaill

President of the Ocean Sustainability Foundation

Hide Sakaguchi

President of Ocean Policy Research (OPRI) of the Sasakawa Peace Foundation

Rena Lee

Ambassador for Oceans and Law of the Sea Issues and Special Envoy of the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Singapore, President of the Intergovernmental Conference on Marine Biodiversity of Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction