APIOI holds first board meeting for 2017 |09 February 2017

The Association of Ports of the Indian Ocean Islands (APIOI) held its first board meeting for 2017 on February 2 at the Indian Ocean Commission (IOC) headquarters at Eben, Mauritius.

The association comprises the chief executives of the port authorities of the IOC countries of Comoros, Madagascar, Mauritius, Reunion and Seychelles. Colonel Andre Ciseau, chief executive of the Seychelles Ports Authority (SPA), is in his second year as chairman in his two-year mandate.

The APIOI board also took the opportunity to pay a courtesy call on the new secretary general of the IOC, Hamada Madi Boléro, and apprised him of the role of the association, being the maritime executive arm of the Commission.

It is to be recalled that upon assuming the position of chairman a year ago, Col. Ciseau promised to modernise the ports association and to bring it in line with the changes that are fast taking place in the ports industry as well as other developments at regional level such as in continental African countries.

As of the first week of February, the APIOI has a new Permanent Secretary (PS) who is based at the IOC headquarters. This arrangement was made possible by the signing in 2016 of a memorandum of understanding between the former IOC secretary general, Jean Claude de L’Estrac, and the APIOI with the support of the IOC member countries.

The new secretariat will sustain and will be able to coordinate all activities of the regional ports grouping. The PS will be able to take part actively in port-related fora organised by the IOC on a regular basis and update members on a more effective and timely basis on issues of relevance. The PS will research and plan the meetings of the association and liaise with designated officials in all member ports and maintain proper records and documentation of APIOI activities which are presently being done separately by individual port staff.

During the courtesy call to the IOC secretary general, the APIOI, under the chairmanship of Col. Ciseau, thanked him on the IOC’s continued support for the Association. APIOI, being the maritime executive arm of the IOC, is periodically consulted through strategic and technical meetings, especially on issues that can impact on the region and member countries. The outcome of such meetings form the basis for the way forward for the APIOI to ensure that the region remains relevant in the face of challenges and stiff competition in the maritime industry.

Mr Boléro on his part expressed his satisfaction towards the success achieved so far by the small but dynamic Association.

He emphasised the need to remain very connected and work closer and harder in order to improve maritime/land security and ports safety in the Indian Ocean region.

He promised the IOC’s full support towards the APIOI and its vision for the development of the regional maritime industry.

The APIOI board also discussed and confirmed that IOC would be supporting the members through a training programme for port safety and security during 2017 for port-related partners and stakeholders.

Members were updated on the issues of the European Development Fund (EDF) for the financing of regional infrastructure projects. The region has taken note that though challenges exist, positive results are expected during 2017/18.

The APIOI also reviewed its plans and topics of focus for 2017/18 in regards to cruise ship and super yacht promotion, maritime port safety and security, port environment, exchange of technical information and common/regional training strategies for port-related personnel.

During 2017/18, the APIOI will continue to engage with its strategic regional partners such as the Vanilla Islands tourism authorities, the destination management companies (DMCs), the Ports Management Association for Eastern and Southern Africa (PMAESA), chambers of commerce, Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA) and others.

It is the plan of the APIOI to establish new working platforms through memoranda of understanding (MoUs) with its strategic partners, consolidate its relevance and put in place new administrative policies to facilitate its cooperation and collaborations in order to improve service delivery.