Expertise France in the Indo-Pacific

France is the only European power-nation in the Indo-Pacific thanks to its five overseas territories: Mayotte and Reunion in the Indian Ocean; New Caledonia, French Polynesia and Wallis and Futuna in the Pacific Ocean. These departments and communities are home to 1.6 million French citizens. The regional integration of these territories is a priority of France's Indo-Pacific strategy, particularly through support for regional organizations. Expertise France supports its partners in the region in their efforts to promote development that is more respectful of the environment, focused on innovation for sustainable prosperity, and based on strong regional cooperation.

- The Indian and Pacific oceans crystallize the inter-state tensions that regularly erupt over the control of marine resources (fishing, energy, etc.) in this region, which is home to veritable energy and goods highways, and where securing these resources is a major issue for world trade.

- The resilience of ecosystems, communities and economies to climate change is at the heart of the challenges impacting the region: terrestrial and marine biodiversity, particularly rich in the region, is threatened by growing pollution (between 5 and 13 million pieces of marine waste dumped every year), rising ocean temperatures and deforestation. These tensions call for a redirection of economies towards more sustainable practices and strong measures, inspired in particular by nature-based solutions in Oceania, where economic development and respect for the environment go hand in hand.

Dynamic territories, driven by proactive youth and cutting-edge technologies: with 75% of the ASEAN population under the age of 35, these young people are working to modernize economies, notably by positioning the region as a leader in digital technology.

Our objective: to contribute to the achievement of sustainable development goals by acting as a vector of links in a vast area facing common challenges.

Expertise France implements projects in key sectors such as low-carbon transition, biodiversity preservation, digital transition, governance, maritime security, support for the structuring of local economic sectors, and human security, and encourages the development of regional and international dialogue on these themes. As part of France's strategy for the Indo-Pacific region, Expertise France's activities are in line with the AFD Group's regional strategy, which focuses on climate change resilience and disaster risk reduction in particular.
Expertise France is also involved in implementing the European Union's Global Gateway strategy, which aims to build quality infrastructure, improve connectivity and support a just energy transition.

  Find out more about Expertise France's action in Indopacfique in the dedicated brochure:

Expertise France in the Indo-Pacific region

Focus 1 - Enhance maritime and port safety and security

- Promote the development of safe maritime transport by strengthening the capacities of national maritime agencies in the management of incidents in ports linked to the transport of dangerous goods;
- Improve the exchange of information and knowledge at regional and inter-regional level, notably through joint operations, the construction of a regional network of expertise, and the use of the neutral and secure IORIS information sharing platform;
- Promote the European Union and its member states as strategic players in Indo-Pacific security and defense, and foster regional cooperation;
- Support local authorities in the fight against illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing.

Focus 2 - Contribute to disaster risk reduction and mitigate the effects of climate change

- Support states and regional organizations in the adoption of disaster risk prevention measures, and support the implementation of risk-preparedness activities, in particular the establishment of multi-hazard early warning systems and the training of first responders;
- Raise awareness of disaster risks and the effects of climate change among civil society, the private and public sectors, and the general public;
- Improve biosafety and biosecurity capabilities by revising the legislative framework and conducting national risk assessment studies;
- Strengthen local capacities for air quality monitoring.

Focus 3 - Preserve biodiversity and support sustainable ocean management

- Assist partner countries in achieving their objectives in terms of sustainable ecosystem management by integrating the challenges of ecological transition into all economic sectors;
- Strengthen public policies in the field of marine debris by facilitating policy dialogue and structuring capacity-building at national and regional levels;
- Promote the green and blue economies as sources of sustainable economic growth that is inclusive, creates jobs and generates human capital;
- Support biodiversity-friendly and climate-resilient agricultural practices to ensure sustainable food systems;
- Support the energy transition and increase the resilience of territories to climate change by strengthening public policies and promoting best practices.

Focus 4 - Developing sustainable finance and supporting the digital transition

Strengthen digital cooperation between the European Union and partner countries by facilitating dialogue to develop joint initiatives;
- Encourage the digitization of public services throughout the country, optimize procedures between different administrations and simplify administrative procedures for the population;
- Direct the commitment of the private and financial sectors towards green recovery and the circular economy, in order to foster the emergence of inclusive eco-businesses, for example by establishing a regulatory policy framework for sustainable finance;
- Reform public finance to include green budgeting and the issuance of green sovereign bonds in practice.

Strengthening multilateralism through support for regional cooperation institutions

Expertise France contributes to strengthening multilateralism in the Indo-Pacific region, by encouraging regional and inter-regional cooperation to foster the emergence and continuation of constructive, peaceful dialogues between the countries of this vast zone. Promoting European expertise and best practices within these institutions also helps to bring about a convergence of institutional standards and practices that are respectful of the environment and human rights. Expertise France supports regional cooperation institutions through projects such as the Indian Ocean Rim States Association (IORA) support project, the CRIMARIO project, which benefits the Indian Ocean Commission (IOC) and the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF), and ASEAN-related projects (AQIP, SSWM, etc.).
In addition, Expertise France deploys International Technical Experts to various multilateral organizations: an expert placed with ASEAN within the framework of the development partnership between France and ASEAN, a technical advisor for international economic regulation with the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific, a “climate and green transition” advisor with the Director General of the African Union Commission, among other expert missions in the region.