The 9th Philippine Ports and Shipping Conference to be held on Feb 23-24 will highlight strong emergence of the Brunei-Indonesia-Malaysia-Philippines-East Asian Growth Area (BIMP-EAGA) and massive developments along the Asean logistics gateways toward completion of the Asean Economic Community (AEC).
The Philippine Ports Authority (PPA) is hosting the event at the Peninsula Hotel Manila to be attended by more than a hundred decision makers, shipping lines, cargo handlers and port operators and other logistics stakeholders.
PPA general manager Jay Daniel Santiago said the event is timely and an “opportunity for the Philippines, through the PPA, to showcase the developments like the Ro-Ro link between the Philippines and Indonesia that is set to start late April this year.
“All the players within BIMP-EAGA and Asean are closely looking at the developments of this Ro-Ro route which will serve as the springboard for future links between and among the member nations.”
He noted the Philippines is in the “process of modernizing its Ro-Ro vessels and ports to easily adapt to the demands of the Asean-wide Ro-Ro operations in the future that is also brought about by the AEC.”
The Davao City-General Santos-Bitung (Indonesia) shipping route will cut travel time of goods to only three days from the current three to five weeks via the Manila-Bitung route.
The new route is not only going to be faster, it is also cheaper, with estimated cost savings of about US$1,500 (P75,000) per twenty-foot equivalent unit.
PPA is also advocating that member ports of the Asean Ports Association align their policies and port infrastructure improvements to take advantage of China’s Maritime Silk Road, a sea route from the South China Sea and South East Asia, through the Indian Ocean and Middle East area into the eastern Mediterranean.
The 9th Ports and Shipping Conference is the biggest biennial Ports, Shipping and Transport Logistics B2B Exhibition and Conference in BIMP EAGA. It will feature 30 conference speakers addressing topical issues and challenges on BIMP-EAGA. There will also be an exhibit of 50 international shipping lines, container ports, logistics companies, IT companies, container terminal equipment, services providers and event sponsors.
PortCalls is participating in the event as a media partner.
For details on the conference, click here.
