The Netherlands has expressed its support to the Philippines to strengthen the global competitiveness of the country’s shipping industry. This announcement came on the sidelines of the 20th Philippines – Netherlands Joint Committee on Maritime Affairs (JCMA) meeting in Manila, in March.
MARINA officer-in-charge Vice Admiral Narciso Vingson Jr. said the Netherlands has committed to give its technical expertise on building infrastructures that are necessary for the implementation of MARINA’s 10-year maritime industry development plan (MIDP).
The MIDP intends to attain a nationally-integrated and globally-competitive maritime industry in the Philippines by 2028 through the development, improvement and expansion of domestic shipping routes, tourist destination areas and coastal and inland waterways, and the enhancement of enabling policies and institutions.
Namely, the objectives of the plan include:
- increasing domestic production capacity in ship-building and ship repair based on global and domestic demand for shipping, fishing, and maritime tourism;
- development and implementation of best practices in maritime safety and security;
- upgrading of higher maritime education and training programs that are compliant with international standards.
MARINA has allocated around PHP 94,57 billion (=USD 1,806 billion) within the next 10 years for the implementation of the following programs under the MIDP:
- upgrading of domestic shipping in support of the nautical highway development;
- development of shipping services for maritime tourism;
- development of coastal inland and waterways transport system;
- strengthening of safety operations of registered fishing vessels;
- development of a global maritime hub;
- modernization of maritime security and establishment of a maritime innovation and knowledge center.
The Philippines and Netherlands agreed to maintain an open line of communication to receive important reports on the country’s maritime industry until the 21st JCMA meeting in March 2020.
The Philippines-Netherlands JCMA was organized in 1999 to support high-level bilateral consultations on maritime affairs to strengthen maritime relations between the two countries.
