Philippines hosts Asean Ports Association meeting

NOVEMBER 10, 2016, MANILA—The Philippines, through the Philippine Ports Authority (PPA), is hosting the 42nd Meeting of the ASEAN Ports Association (APA) on November 15-16, 2016.

The event, which will be held at the Solaire Resorts Hotel located at the country’s Entertainment City in Parañaque, is expected to be attended by the top port executives and decision makers from the member nations of the APA.

Department of Transportation Secretary Arthur P. Tugade will give the Keynote speech to kick-start the meeting while PPA General Manager Jay Daniel R. Santiago and APA Chair and PT Terminal Petikemas Surabaya of Indonesia Head of Corporate Secretary Dothy, will give the Welcome Remarks and Opening Address, respectively.

The 9-member countries of APA include Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam are each required to present a paper that will serve as the springboard for future development and cooperation among member countries.

One of the issues to be tackled in the meeting is port infrastructure, which will be the focus of the Philippine presentation, specifically PPA’s Port Infrastructure Development Plans.

The Port Infrastructure Development Plan of the PPA, meanwhile, identified five priority ports for modernization, namely: Davao, Cagayan de Oro, General Santos, Iloilo Container Port Complex, and Zamboanga ports, which are already considered international gateways.

“We are developing these ports as these handle majority of our import and export product not only within Asean but also worldwide,” Santiago stressed.

“The APA Meeting, which we will be hosting, is a great avenue for the Philippines to assure our Asean neighbors and the world that we are doing beyond what is needed for us to properly respond to the demands of the global supply chain market,” Santiago said.

Last year, during the 41st APA Meeting held in Brunei Darussalam, the PPA stressed on the capacity-building initiatives it is undertaking like the “TrainforTrade” program with the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development as well as its partnership with the World Maritime University, the International Association of Ports and Harbors, the Permanent International Association of Navigation Congress, among others, all aimed at improving the professional capability of its employees.

APA, meanwhile, was formed in 1974, as an alliance of port authorities in the ASEAN to serve as the proper forum for the achievement of the following broad objectives: exchange of information, harmonization of trade practices, and promotion/facilitation of trade among ASEAN ports.

The Association is presently composed of regular and associate members collectively recognized as members by the Association. Regular members are those national port authorities and/or the country ports with the government retaining majority interest. Corporatized or privatized ports comprise associate members. These Members determine programs of work and priorities, annual budgets and other affairs of the Association; elect the Chairperson and the Vice-Chairperson; and, attend special meetings to discuss matters on proposals, recommendations or reports of the Working Committee or Technical Committees.

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