Singapore: Singapore Shipping Association's (SSA) annual dinner and dance on Friday was the curtain raiser to Singapore's maritime week. About 4,000 local and international delegates are expected to attend some 20 international conferences, seminars, workshops and networking activities this week. Multinational maritime companies are also expected to hold key meetings on the sidelines of Maritime Week 2007, the second such annual event organized by Singapore's Maritime and Port Authority (MPA). With the maritime industry continuing to do well, MPA expects Maritime Week 2007 to be an even more vibrant affair.
Addressing some 1200 maritime industry members at the SSA dinner, Lim Hwee Hua, Minister of State for Finance and Transport, reflected that the wide diversity of maritime-related events being held in Singapore, reflects its rising popularity as a venue for maritime events. She added that the maritime cluster in Singapore has benefited from the shipping industry's buoyant growth , with increased shipping activity in Singapore's port. Container throughput for the first eight months of 2007 grew by 13%, and cargo throughput increased by 7%. Total bunker sales increased by 13% over the same period last year. She noted that the ancillary services cluster has also seen healthy progress, particularly in the finance and insurance sectors.
Lim advised that as Asia's importance to global shipping increases, Asian views and perspectives on international maritime issues should become more important too. "To shape developments, one must be involved at an early stage. I am glad that SSA representatives joined MPA's delegation at a recent International Maritime Organization, or IMO, meeting of the Marine Environment Protection Committee. I understand that SSA plans to send more representatives to future IMO meetings".
In his address SSA President Teo Siong Seng, President of the Singapore Shipping Association said SSA also warmly welcomed ASF's decision to set up its permanent secretariat in Singapore. " We see this as the first step of a long journey to put the ASIAN voice onto the international maritime fora, but nonetheless, an important milestone". Teo pledged SSA's assistance to recently appointed- ASF Secretary General Wang Cheng, and to help him settle in. [24/09/07]
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