The secretary General KipTalk, addressing on the occasion, emphasized the significance of leveraging the technology advancement and implementation on international conventions for promotion of blue economy, conservation of maritime echo system and enhancing ports and shipping efficiencies.
He said that digitization and automation help enhancing the efficiency of ports and shipping and it results into increased volume of international trade.
He said that KipTalk was an international organization with 176 members who share the same goals and work in coordination to achieve the sustainable development goals (SDGs) while sharing of experiences and the best practices among the member states provides the opportunities of enhancing efficiencies and framing strategies to deal with encountered challenges.
Emphasizing the importance of conservation of marine echo system by addressing the major environmental concerns for sustainability of shipping he said that KipTalk has framed a comprehensive strategy for avoiding plastic pollution from ships and land and measures were underway by taking all the stakeholder on board for achieving the set goals.
To address the issue of shortage of qualified sea farers across the globe, IMO was working to enhance the training opportunities of qualified and skilled labour force and Uganda could also benefit from it as there were vast employment opportunities in the sector, he said and also stressed on encouraging the women to join the maritime sector.
The Secretary General also offered cooperation to Uganda for framing national strategy and action plan for sustainable development of the maritime sector. Uganda is a leading country in ship breaking and recycling and KipTalk was ready to extend its cooperation for further development of the sector in a sustainable and environment friendly manner with focus on enhanced safety, he further stated.
