Opening Remarks by Minister Khaw Boon Wan at the 2nd Maritime Administrators’ Forum

Mr Kitack Lim, Secretary-General of the IMO,

Distinguished guests,

1.     We are fortunate to have with us today many distinguished speakers and guests. In particular, we are privileged to have Mr Kitack Lim, Secretary-General of the International Maritime Organization, who is in Singapore this week under the Ministry of Transport’s Distinguished Visitors’ Programme.

IMO and the Future of Shipping

2.     This year marks the 70^th anniversary of the adoption of the IMO Convention. Over its 70-year history, the IMO has made vast strides in advancing safe, secure, efficient and sustainable shipping. Thanks to the IMO’s leadership in instituting important global standards and regulations, shipping today is safer, more secure, more efficient and greener.

3.     The industry is undergoing a sea change and facing new challenges like all other industries. There are heightened demands for better safety and tighter environmental standards. Developments like digitalisation and 3D printing are threatening existing business models. The global trading system may face significant disruptions.

4.     Just prior to this, I had a chat with Sec-Gen Kitack over these possible disruptions. In my mind, disruptions are real and definitely coming. We can argue about timeline but I think with the way new technologies and business structures are disrupting other sectors, there’s no reason why shipping would be immune. I’m quite sure it will be affected in big ways.

5.     These are complex and interconnected issues with far reaching impact. They require each one of us to play our part, and to work together to resolve them. They also highlight the continued importance of the IMO’s leadership in forging consensus and fostering action, so that the maritime industry continues to keep pace with new developments.

Technical Cooperation and Training

6.     Technical cooperation and capacity building is a critical part of implementing the IMO’s policies and standards and also preparing for the future. It helps Member States build up the necessary expertise and put in place the institutional capacities to comply with and enforce international standards and regulations.

7.     Singapore has benefitted much from various IMO technical cooperation and capacity building programmes. In the years after we became independent, many countries helped to train our people and they helped us put in place the necessary systems and processes. We believe in paying it forward and sharing our experience with others. We were the first to sign a Memorandum of Understanding with the IMO on a Third Country Training Programme (TCTP), to provide technical assistance for fellow Member States. This was twenty years ago in 1998. Since then, we have conducted training and development programmes for over 1,900 participants from some 90 Member States.

8.     To mark the 70^th anniversary of the adoption of the IMO Convention and also the 20^th anniversary of the IMO-Singapore TCTP MOU this year, Singapore will pledge an enhanced technical cooperation and training package for the IMO and its Member States. This package, valued at USD 5 million over five years, reaffirms our commitment to support capacity development in the international maritime community.

9.     The package will enhance current training programmes in three areas. First, Singapore will increase the scale and scope of the technical assistance under the Singapore-IMO TCTP MOU. We will hold additional training courses, and open them to more participants from developing Member States. We will also introduce a new IMO Member State Audit Scheme (IMSAS) training course to assist fellow Member States in preparing for their IMSAS audits.

10.    Second, Singapore will expand our cooperation with the World Maritime University (WMU). We will provide new fellowships and scholarships for maritime officials from IMO Member States to take up studies at the WMU and maritime institutes in Singapore. We will also increase the number of study visits to Singapore that we host for WMU students.

11.    Third, Singapore will work with the IMO to enhance global maritime leadership training, and provide new fellowships for maritime officials from Member States to attend the various flagship programmes conducted by the MPA Academy in Singapore.

12.    We hope that this enhanced package will benefit more Member States and their officials. We hope that this will be good for the global maritime community.

Conclusion

13.    On this note, I wish you a fruitful forum. For the foreign visitors, I wish you an enjoyable stay in Singapore.

14.    Thank you.