Dubai Maritime City Authority (DMCA), the government authority responsible for regulating, coordinating and supervising all aspects of Dubai’s maritime sector, will conclude the currently running Dubai Maritime Week tomorrow, on Thursday, October 30. The event will come to an end on a high note, with local, regional and international participants successfully identifying best practices and the latest trends, aimed at attaining sustainable development in the global maritime sector. During the event, high-profile attendees, comprising senior government figures, decision-makers, leading regional and international experts, operators, ship owners, as well as maritime leaders discussed key issues and the latest developments in the industry.
The event, which was held under the patronage of H.H. Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and Chairman of the Dubai Executive Council, reflected DMCA’s efforts to position Dubai as one of the most important maritime hubs in the world in line with the vision and directives of its wise leaders. The second edition of the biennial Dubai Maritime Week launched the first Dubai Maritime Summit which gathered the UAE’s high-ranking government officials and prominent leaders from the International Maritime Organization (IMO), the International Association of Classification Societies (IACS), the International Federation of Independent Tanker Owners (INTERTANKO), and Maritime London.
During the summit, the first-of-its-kind global maritime event in the Middle East, discussions revolved around the rapidly evolving international maritime sector, issues facing the industry, and the integrated efforts to transform Dubai into a world-class maritime hub. The summit specifically highlighted Dubai’s proactive initiatives in order to modernize the local sector. The emirate has taken huge strides in infrastructure upgrades, operational and logistics improvements and diverse investment offerings to make the local industry highly competitive in the regional and international markets.
H.E. Sultan bin Sulayem, Chairman of Dubai Ports, Customs and Free Zone Corporation and President of DMCA, said: “By successfully hosting Dubai Maritime Week 2014, the emirate has proven once again why it is considered a center of maritime excellence and innovation. This year, we included in our agenda the Dubai Maritime Summit as a strategic platform to highlight Dubai’s progress in terms of infrastructure renovations, regulations and operational reforms, logistics improvements, and investment diversifications within the local maritime sector.”
He added: “Dubai Maritime Week 2014 was a big success given the impressive wide regional and international participation and its various high-level events, including the Dubai Maritime Summit, Seatrade Maritime Awards Middle East and Indian Subcontinent, and Seatrade Middle East Maritime. Seatrade Middle East Maritime is one of the most prominent maritime exhibitions that opened communication channels between regional and global maritime sectors. The biennial event’s success affirms our commitment to establish a vibrant marine environment that offers diverse investment opportunities to industry leaders from around the world. We also strive to create a renewed and secure maritime sector capable of meeting Dubai’s requirements for sustainable economic development.”
Meanwhile, Amer Ali, Executive Director, DMCA, has revealed this early the details of the 3rd edition of Dubai Maritime Week in 2016. He said the 2016 event will build on the success of the first and second editions to continuously bring the local maritime sector to new levels of growth and excellence.
Ali said: “The successful conclusion of Dubai Maritime Week 2014 further underscores Dubai’s status as one of the region’s and the world’s most prominent maritime and logistics hubs. The 2nd edition has succeeded in setting solid foundation to further improve all components of the maritime industry, which is one of the key elements that drive the global economy. One of the highlights during the event was the showcasing of Dubai’s immense potentials as well as the opportunities it provides to major companies operating in the fields of maritime transport management, marine services, education, research and ship repair, among others.”
Ali concluded “DMCA is looking forward to continuing our hard work by collaborating with our strategic partners in government agencies and relevant authorities. Like this year, we are also planning to expand the agenda of the 3rd Dubai Maritime Week to gather together an elite group of international speakers and local, regional and international maritime industry leaders. The high-profile event will provide an interactive platform for the participants to exchange experiences and best practices to help improve the global maritime sector.”
A large number of regional and international participants attended Dubai Maritime Week 2014’s various interactive conferences, meetings, talk shows and workshops such as the Dubai Maritime Summit, Seatrade Maritime Awards Middle East and Indian Subcontinent, Seatrade Middle East Maritime, and the DMCA Partners Appreciation Gathering.
