The annual World Ports and Harbors Conference under the theme “Ports of Future: Building Hubs, Accelerating Connectivity” continued with panel sessions and working meetings in Baku.
Speaking at “How is the competition center formed? Free Trade Zones (FTZs) act as a key player in international trade and value chains” session, professor at Shanghai University Teo Teotetom, former Chief Executive Officer of Dubai Logistics City Michael Proffitt, president of the Trieste Port Authority Zeno D’Agostino and others underlined the importance of FTZs and regional hubs. The session mainly focused on the prospects of making the Baku International Sea Trade Port into one of regional hubs by using the unique capabilities of its geographical position, as well as its location at the crossroads of trading hubs and routes.
The working group meetings, titled “Who is afraid of LNG? and “Digitalization and destructive technologies – in general”, featured discussion on recent year’s increase in the share of Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) in the global gas market. The speakers stressed the significance of the location and capacity of ports in LNG transportation and discussed the advantages of digitalization in port management.
The previous conferences were held in Los Angeles (2013), Sydney (2014), Hamburg (2015), Panama (2016), and Bali (2017).
IAPH was formed in 1955 and over the last 60 years has grown into a global alliance representing over 180 members ports and 140 port related businesses in 90 countries. The principal aim of IAPH revolves around promoting the interests of ports worldwide, building strong member relationships and sharing best practices among members.