During the London International Shipping Week (LISW), the Department of Transport (DfT) and ABP’s Port of Southampton launched UK’s first Port Economic Partnership (PEP), an initiative to create stronger links between ports and Government, to maximise long-term trade and economic growth.
This initiative is part of UK’s strategy ‘Maritime 2050-Navigating the Future‘.
The British Government supported that the creation of Port Economic Partnerships will enable the creation of a strong business environment for ports to thrive, in turn, boosting trade and driving the national economy.
Overall, the partnership will focus on:
- Leveraging the maximum benefit from public and private sector investment and ensuring that planning processes are as efficient as possible; This will better facilitate ports’ investment in new freight-handling facilities and other infrastructure needed to grow trading volumes and maintain the UK’s position as a leading maritime nation.
- Ensuring that public and private sector organisations at local, regional and national levels, work together to enable improved links with our global trading partners, ready for a post-Brexit world where the resilience of our trading hubs is more critical than ever before.
In light of this partnership, the Maritime Minister, Nusrat Ghani stated
This fantastic endeavour will be key to supporting the ambitions of Government, helping to cement the UK as a leading maritime nation. Not only this, but this project will also allow the Port of Southampton to drive sector growth, enhance its offer to customers and serve its local community.
In addition, during the LISW, major maritime stakeholders met discussing about the approaching 2020 sulphur cap and what changes will follow in the sector, whereas Inmarsat launched its report according to which startups are bringing a new era in the shipping industry boosting digitalization.
