The growing influence of IAPH’s cross-sectoral endeavors was reflected in the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding with the IMO in July 2023. Signed by IMO secretary general Kitack Lim, IAPH president Captain K. Subranamiam and IAPH managing director Patrick Verhoeven, the MoU agreed to closer collaboration on climate change, energy transition, digital transformation, trade facilitation and risk and resilience capacity building between shipping and ports. During his tenure, Kitack Lim had strived to closely involve ports in the work of the IMO, resulting in the very first Ports Resolution on facilitating maritime decarbonisation and the introduction of the Maritime Single Window. A few months later, the IAPH World Ports Conference came to the Middle East for the first time. The 2023 Abu Dhabi event, hosted by AD Ports Group, was held one month before the UN’s COP 28 climate conference in Dubai. Appropriately, energy transition was a major focus, with discussion of the technical and financial challenges of producing, storing, transporting and distributing low- and zero-carbon fuels, as well as the need to forge partnerships with government. Notably, the UAE was one of the five first governments to back the Clean Energy Marine Hubs (CEM-HUBS) initiative that had been launched by IAPH and ICS in late 2022. The conference saw the introduction of both the Guidelines on Cooperation between Customs and Port Authorities (created with the World Customs Organization) and a first look at the forthcoming Port Community Systems Lessons from Global Experience, created with the World Bank. Excitingly, the year concluded with the agreement of a new media partnership to propel IAPH and its flagship conference into the future.
