President to open mega international shipping expo and conference

The International Association of Ports and Harbours (IAPH) founded in November 1955 under the motto ‘World Peace through World Trade, World Trade through World Ports,’ today, as the global alliance of the world port community, represents some 200 ports and 140 port-related organisations of about 90 countries across the world.

The association meets every two years at its World Port Conference, the largest gathering of the world port community. This year the International Association of Ports & Harbours has selected Sri Lanka as the host country for their 12th Asia-Oceania regional forum and meeting.

Hence, the 12th Asia/Oceania, Regional Meeting & Port Forum of the IAPH, themed ‘Global Challenges – Impact on Asia/Oceania Region’ will be inaugurated by the President Mahinda Rajapaksa on 8 March at the Bandaranaike Memorial International Conference Hall (BIMCH), Colombo, with the participation of more than 25 countries, including India, Pakistan, China, Bangladesh, Maldives, Australia, Brunei, Fiji, Indonesia, Iran, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, Myanmar, New Zealand, Oman, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, United Arab Emirates, Vietnam, Thailand and Kuwait.

The two-day Regional Meeting and the Port Forum on 8 and 9 March hosted by Sri Lanka Ports Authority will be addressed by highly reputed and recognised personages and resource persons from around the world and meticulously chosen from those who have excelled in their respective disciplines.

The event will take place alongside an air freight and shipping exhibition to promote the island as a logistics hub. As the biggest regional port event scheduled in Sri Lanka, it expects over 250 foreign participants including ports and related organisations of IAPH.

In this particular context, the 12th Asia/Oceania Regional Meeting and Port Forum themed ‘Global Challenges – Impact on Asia/Oceania Region’ will make the deliberations as current and contemporary as possible. The forum will include three sessions on most relevant sub themes encompassing areas such as impacts of world economic crises on global trade, capacity building, new port development strategies for the Asia/Oceania region, maritime safety, maritime security, social/environmental assessment of ports development and sustainability, etc.

This regional meeting and the forum also makes a perfect platform for the port executives and experts coming from all parts of the world to exchange views and experiences over a range of issues and challenges. Besides, members of the three regions, Africa/Europe, America, Asia/Oceania, also meet regularly at Regional meetings to discuss common issues in a regional context.

The principle objective of the IAPH is to develop and foster good relations and cooperation among all ports and harbours in the world by proving a forum to exchange opinions and share experiences on the latest trends of port management and operations. IAPH strives to emphasise and promote the fact that ports form a vital link in the water-borne transportation and play such a vital role in today’s global economy.

IAPH actively addresses critical issues facing the port industry through the technical committees. Currently, eight technical committees are formed, respectfully tasked to study implications and recommend policies and measures of emerging issues in such areas as port safety, security, environment, development and IT applications.

IAPH also proactively plays a significant role to tackle global issues at maritime related UN agencies and other international organisations. For this, IAPH is especially granted non-government organisation consultative status by ECOSOC, ILO, IMO, UNCTAD, UNEP and WCO.

IAPH will continue to play a pivotal role as a unique global forum of the port industry in strengthening cooperation and sharing experiences among the world’s ports. Moreover, to effectively deal with many global issues, IAPH will also actively collaborate with other international organisations for the sustainable development of the world economy.

The number of international events being held in the island has increased after the end of the 30-year ethnic war in May 2009, during which business conditions were difficult with foreign buyers reluctant to visit suppliers. The pioneering political leadership and vision of the President Mahinda Rajapaksa extended to completely eliminate the LTTE terrorism from Sri Lanka, won a wider recognition among the top business communities in the world to identify Sri Lanka as a much convenient venue for international trade and business under serene environs and sustainable peace.

The accompany persons’ program of delegates which is included during this year’s IAPH forum and organised by Sri Lanka Ports Authority to offer a firsthand experience of hospitality, tranquil life styles of the peoples living in harmony as well as the current business and financial movements of the masses in the country, together with the cultural events to be held parallel to the program at the newly-built state-of-the-art Lotus Pond theatre and the ‘Galle Buck’ – Colombo Lighthouse premises will be identified as vital components added to highlight the true Sri Lankan spirit and the authenticity of the nation. These components in return, will equally add an invaluable patronage for conference tourism at a time the trade of tourism is becoming a booming and money spinning industry in Sri Lanka.

Transporting a manufacturer’s production, invested in a country, to the end market, draws the concern of the proper development of the transportation sector. Therefore, within the process of the overall development of Sri Lanka, special focus has been drawn towards developing all sorts of sectors of transport.

At present, with the ‘Mahinda Chinthana’ vision of President Mahinda Rajapaksa who simultaneously holds the Ministerial Portfolio of Ports and Highways, Sri Lanka is geared towards becoming a fivefold hub in the spheres of maritime, aviation, commercial, knowledge and energy in the region.The mega development projects that include Magam Ruhunupura Mahinda Rajapaksa International Port in Hambantota, the Colombo Port Expansion Project, Mattala Airport and a number of other mega constructions throughout the country are at present, geared through an expedited process to assist, to convert Sri Lanka into the ‘Wonder of Asia’.