Dr Wendy Watson-Wright commended the effort to establish OFDS by Malaysia, Thailand and China, especially the leading role played by the First Institute of Oceanography. Her speech is provided in Appendix 1.
Appendix 1:
I must congratulate member states: Malaysia, Thailand and China, in particular the team that involves in the development of this Ocean Forecasting System Demonstration; Prof. Fredolin Tangang, as the Project Leader, and Prof. Fangli Qiao, Dr Somkiat Khokiattiwong as members of the project steering committee and other members of the project team from each country, for their respective roles and hardwork.
I also would like to congratulate Mr. Wenxi Zhu of IOC-WESTPAC and once again Dr Somkiat Khokiattiwong of SEAGOOS Coordinator for their leadership and roles in coordinating and facilitating the implementation of this project.
Ladies and gentlemen,
The establishment of this Ocean Forecasting System Demonstration that provides marine forecasts for up to 3 days ahead, is really timely for two reasons. First, this is the only marine forecast product for the region that can be accessed freely by the public and users from the region (or from anywhere in the world). Second, this system serves as an early warning system for marine hazards, especially this is really crucial in the context of climate change.
I must mention here also that this project can be seen as capacity building opportunity for countries in the Southeast Asia region in which capacity in ocean numerical modeling in these countries is still in developmental phase. The role of China , particularly the First Institute of Oceanography, which is quite advance in ocean modeling is greatly acknowledged.
Finally, I hope this project would continue, not just in term of improving the system, but also more countries would participate in the future.
On behalf of the IOC, I once again congratulate everyone that contributed and sincerely wish this project a greater success.
Thank you.
