The Blue Recovery Hubs initiative, a partnership between the OECD and the Friends of Ocean Action (a coalition convened by the World Economic Forum, in collaboration with the World Resources Institute), was established as an accelerator platform to support countries “build forward bluer” after the COVID-19 pandemic. By providing policy support and mobilising and aligning resources, the initiative aims to advance two key objectives: (i) enhance the long-term sustainability of existing ocean economy sectors and (2) generate new and sustainable opportunities that can enable economic diversification and act as a multiplier of the Sustainable Development Goals.

Samoa, a small island developing state, has an economy closely tied to the Pacific Ocean. The pursuit of a sustainable ocean future is central to Samoa’s development vision. This is reflected in the country’s medium and long-term national development strategies, which recognise the potential of several ocean-based industries for economic growth. The government understands that harnessing ocean resources is vital for sustainable economic development and improving the livelihoods of its people. It also acknowledges that the ocean represents a source of cultural identity and spiritual connection for many Samoans and their communities.

This chapter explores the structure and patterns of Samoa’s ocean economy, highlighting the crucial roles played by key sectors such as tourism, fisheries and maritime transport. It emphasises their contributions to the overall economic context and assesses the socio-economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, to draw lessons for building a sustainable and resilient ocean economy. The chapter also explores the pressing challenges faced by Samoa’s ocean economy, including climate change, overexploitation of marine resources and environmental degradation, and discusses the potential of ocean economy activities to drive long-term economic growth and development.

The Government of Samoa has crafted an integrated approach to ocean management through the development of the Samoa Ocean Strategy (SOS) and the National Ocean Steering Committee (NOSC). This chapter explores how these elements provide a foundation for policy coherence and co-ordination in pursuit of a sustainable ocean economy. It also elucidates challenges, some stemming from pandemic-related disruptions, which hamper the potential of the SOS and the NOSC. The chapter then situates the SOS and the NOSC in Samoa’s economic, social and environmental context, as well as its broader policy landscape, to assess policy alignment and identify drivers of and roadblocks to successful implementation.

This chapter offers an overview of Samoa’s financing landscape as it relates to the ocean economy. It emphasises the need to tap into a diverse range of financing sources (public, private, domestic and external) to support Samoa’s aspirations of building a sustainable ocean economy. Additionally, the chapter explores the role of official development assistance (ODA) in cultivating a sustainable ocean economy and the potential benefits and challenges associated with adopting innovative financing mechanisms in the Samoan context.

This chapter highlights a set of cross-cutting and sector-specific opportunities to encourage sustainable development of Samoa’s blue economy. The first subsection offers cross-cutting recommendations that apply broadly to Samoa’s ocean economy, while the second subsection outlines sector-specific recommendations for sustainable tourism, fisheries, maritime transport and emerging sectors of the ocean economy.