Global maritime leaders gathered at the Opening Ceremony of Sea Asia 2019, the 7th biennial conference and exhibition organised by UBM (Seatrade) and Singapore Maritime Foundation, as part of Singapore Maritime Week 2019.
Attendees at the three-day maritime event included Guest of Honour, Dr Janil Puthucheary, Senior Minister of State, Ministry of Transport and Ministry of Communications and Information, Mr Niam Chiang Meng, Chairman of MPA Singapore, Mr Andreas Sohmen-Pao, Chairman of Singapore Maritime Foundation, and Mr Chris Hayman, Chairman of Seatrade, Informa Markets.
In his opening remarks at the ceremony, Mr Sohmen-Pao, spoke about the relevance of Sea Asia as a platform for maritime leaders to share their expertise and innovations, as well as the role Singapore plays to facilitate the exchange of ideas around latest trends and challenges in the industry, as a leading maritime centre with a supportive and responsive government.
In his address, Senior Minister of State, Dr Puthucheary, focused on the importance of the maritime industry which continues to carry 90% of global trade today despite facing challenges from players such as Alibaba and Amazon, tighter environmental regulations and increasing competition for talent.
He also spoke of the opportunities presented by digital connectivity, encouraged by the development of the electronic Bill of Lading (eBL) built under Singapore’s TradeTrust framework, cleaner shipping and the need for a highly-skilled workforce to future proof the industry for the long term.
This sentiment was echoed by Mr Hayman, who spoke of the platform Sea Asia brings to industry players, to collaborate and address the opportunities as well as challenges posed by digitisation, the global economic outlook and the sulphur cap.
Across the scheduled three sessions on the first day of the conference, attendees will hear from industry experts on the key issues facing the industry, the future of the maritime workforce and the impact of the global economic environment on industry dynamics and competitive landscape.
This year, the event features more than 400 exhibiting companies over a record 13 national pavilions (up from 10 pavilions in 2017), with the presence of new countries: Oman, Poland and Turkey.
A highlight of this year’s event is the Innovation Arena, which showcases eight start-up companies who are supporting new thinking and innovation across the industry.
The opening ceremony concluded with Dr Puthucheary touring the highlights of the exhibition, which began at Keppel Offshore and Marine, PSA Singapore Terminals, Jurong Port, Sembcorp Marine and wrapping up at the Innovation Arena.
