Colombo Intl. Maritime Conference to address growing regional trade potential: JOC.com

A total of 90% of the world’s trade is moved through shipping and is considered as the wheels of global trade. It helps the global economy propel and develop new markets to create wealth among nations.

In this context, Sri Lanka known to be a historical maritime nation is poised to play a major role in the coming decades to service the Indian Subcontinent and Asia as a mega transhipment hub.

Post-conflict Sri Lanka is a great opportunity for global investors to establish Indian Subcontinent’s shipping and logistics hub as the country amalgamates the regional ports and connects regional trade through the main east-west shipping route to the rest of the world. All predictions are that Indian led growth will see many shipping and logistics opportunities in the Indian Subcontinent.

Sri Lankan ports will be a catalyst and could work with synergies with regional ports to enhance efficient shipping solutions to provide competitive and speedy market needs that would help global trade. Since liberalising the economy in 1977 and post conflict Sri Lanka has invested steadily in its maritime infrastructure and is known to be the most liberalised country in South Asia. Colombo is the only regional port as at now that offers facilities for current generation (EEE) mega ships.

However the country has been slow in its marketing and promotional efforts to showcase its advantages to the world. The Colombo International Maritime Conference (CIMC) 2015 is the first effort in this regard to position the country’s shipping, logistics and maritime sector. The event is supported by the Government of Sri Lanka, private and public sector institutions and associations along with international and local chambers and many international organisations and institutions related to the industry.

The conference will be addressed by international, regional and local speakers who are representatives of major international institutions and business entities related to the shipping industry. The conference organisers would like to carry the message of Sri Lanka’s and the region’s opportunities in the maritime sector to the world. 

The International Maritime Organisation (IMO) which is the key body of the UN related to the maritime sector has specially endorsed this Colombo conference through a message from its Secretary General Koji Sekimizu. 

Importantly 2015 the IMO theme is maritime education and training which coincides with the UN changing from millennium development goals to sustainable development goals to ensure a better planet for its people. In this regard Sri Lanka will play a significant and an important role in the maritime map of the world in the years to come and the sector will help elevate the standards of living in Sri Lankan people and the Indian Subcontinent.

The conference will be held from 24-26 September in Colombo, Sri Lanka. More information can be found on website www.cimc2015.com.

(Source: http://www.joc.com.)

JOC.com Executive Editor to speak in Colombo for CIMC 2015

Mark Szakonyi

Mark Szakonyi is the Executive Editor of JOC.com, a subscription-based portal for news, analysis, data and research pertaining to containerized shipping and other forms of freight transport. JOC.com is the online arm of The Journal of Commerce, part of IHS Maritime and Trade. 

Szakonyi leads a team of more than a dozen editors, reporters and trade analysts that provide business intelligence to shippers and transportation providers. His analysis and work has been quoted in mainstream news media including BBC, The Economist, NPR and USA Today.