We are committed to supporting regional maritime security in regions affected by maritime crimes through comprehensive capacity building assistance under existing instruments in areas such as maritime governance, coast guard authorities and functions, disaster relief, maritime search and rescue, and maritime information sharing and integration including Maritime Domain Awareness (MDA), as well as efforts to improve legislative, judicial, and prosecutorial capacities. We welcome the African Union Summit on maritime security and safety and development in Africa, held in October 2016 in Togo, and the Lomé Charter signed on that same occasion. Its further development and implementation will increase the overall maritime ability of the African Union. We also recognize the importance of ensuring free and open seas, including the Mediterranean, the Gulf of Guinea and the Indo-Pacific and enhancing connectivity of the region. We also welcome the entry into force of the FAO Port State Measures Agreement in June 2016 and we call upon all coastal states to accede to this significant international treaty specifically aimed at tackling IUU fishing. We welcome and encourage research activities aimed at providing scientific and technological support to enhance maritime security. We support the work of the Preparatory Committee on the development of a future internationally legally binding instrument under UNCLOS on the conservation and sustainable use of marine biological diversity in areas beyond national jurisdiction. We are committed to supporting cooperation, capacity-building and appropriate access to financial and technical support to help countries realize their priorities while safeguarding the ocean’s health and improving climate resilience in order to ensure conservation and sustainable use of living marine resources including marine biodiversity. We welcome the Italian initiative to host a G7 High Level Meeting on Maritime Security and the EU initiative to host the “Our Ocean” Conference, later this year. CYBER We reaffirm our support for an accessible, open, interoperable, reliable and secure cyberspace. We recognize the enormous benefits for economic growth and prosperity that we and all others derive from it as an extraordinary tool for economic, social, and political development. While cyberspace offers a wide range of opportunities, we recognize the vulnerability of our digital world, as Joint Communiqué | G7 FOREIGN MINISTERS MEETING 24