The Secretary-General of IMO has signed a partnership agreement with the Commonwealth Secretariat, under which both organisations commit to strengthening the maritime and port sectors in selected developing countries through activities which will promote and facilitate the adoption of sustainable maritime transport systems and practices.
Commonwealth countries who are Member States of IMO will benefit from joint capacity-building activities between the two intergovernmental organisations.
Under the agreement, IMO and the Commonwealth Secretariat intend to work together to support:
- knowledge sharing;
- intergovernmental cooperation;
- capacity-building;
- joint resource mobilization.
Specific activities will be developed to address:
- marine environment protection and climate change;
- maritime safety;
- maritime security;
- maritime legislation;
- maritime transport facilitation in support of global and regional trade flows.
IMO Secretary-General Kitack Lim said on the occasion:
The maritime sector binds us all together and this agreement will help us target countries with additional support to ensure that shipping is greener and more resilient, supporting employment and driving forward the blue economy across nations
For her part, Commonwealth Secretary-General, the Rt Hon Patricia Scotland KC, added that “our ocean drives economic activity, connecting us all and carrying 80% of global trade, by volume, through maritime transport. The provision of safe, secure shipping on cleaner seas has never been of greater importance than it is now.”
