Distinguished CEOs,

Dr Martin Stopford, President, Clarkson Research Services Limited,

Delegates,

Good morning. I am very delighted to welcome all of you to Singapore. Some of you have travelled from afar, and we thank you for your participation and support for the inaugural Port Authorities Roundtable (PAR) 2015.

Singapore Maritime Week / SG50

This inaugural roundtable event is held in conjunction with the 10th anniversary of the Singapore Maritime Week (SMW), which takes place from 19 to 24 April. SMW is an annual flagship event organised by the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA). SMW brings together the international maritime community in Singapore for a week of high-level conferences, workshops and exhibitions. It is a key platform to promote thought leadership and business opportunities across the maritime sector, as well as good networking opportunities for the who's who in industry and government. It also complements our ongoing efforts to generate public interest in maritime sector and the exciting career opportunities available.

This year also marks the 50th birthday of Singapore since its independence in 1965. From our humble beginnings, to our growth today as a global hub port and a leading international maritime centre, Singapore has truly come a long way. We are delighted that our friends from all over the world are here with us today as we commemorate a truly significant anniversary this year. And we are grateful for the strong ties and support from port authorities around the world and our maritime partners.

Learning and sharing through the PAR

As we are all well aware, shipping is a global business, accounting for more than 90 percent of world trade and is the life blood of the world's economy. The efforts towards tackling the issues and challenges in the maritime industry need to be international. Today, the maritime industry continues to operate under challenging market conditions. In particular, congestion, backlogs and bottlenecks in ports have become a more frequent occurrence in part due to mega alliances and larger ships. While the container shipping industry has been plagued by excess capacity over the last few years, MPA remains optimistic that the fundamentals of world trade remain strong, coupled with the anticipated economic recovery in Europe and the US.

It is important for us to be well prepared for the evolving challenges and to meet the future needs of the maritime industry. The Port Authorities Roundtable aims to be a high-level strategic platform for the top leadership of port authorities to meet, network, share and discuss issues and ideas with one another, and to explore possible areas of collaboration. This roundtable does not attempt to duplicate but augment existing dialogues.

MOU between MPA and PoR to co-operate in information exchange and research and development

I am pleased to share that MPA will be working with the Port of Rotterdam Authority to exchange information on marine services and research and development on port efficiency and optimisation. MPA and Port of Rotterdam will be signing an MOU today. To facilitate logistical arrangements, you will notice that I am sitted next to Mr Allard Castelein at the head table. Through this MOU, the two authorities aim to co-operate in information exchange and research and development. The information exchange will include the areas of standards, procedures and regulatory frameworks of bunkering and other marine services, including the use of information technology to facilitate services to vessels, while R&D efforts will include the areas of LNG bunkering, green shipping and port optimisation. This MOU is non-exclusive, open to others interested to participate based on the objectives of the MOU.

Guest Speaker, Dr Martin Stopford

We are also pleased to have Dr Martin Stopford with us today, to share his insights and perspectives on the maritime industry and the future of containerisation. Dr Martin Stopford has extensive knowledge of the maritime industry, having held senior positions in British Shipbuilders, Chase Manhattan Bank N.A. and Lloyds Maritime Information Services.

His presentation and insights on the global outlook on the maritime industry would provide us a useful perspective for the roundtable discussion.

Introduction of theme topics, and format

Let me now touch briefly on the theme, topics and format of the roundtable discussions. The theme for today's roundtable discussion is "Future Ready Ports - Challenges and Opportunities Ahead". I will be your host but there will be no chairperson as this is meant to be a roundtable discussion. We have three topics and each session has 2-3 presenters and a facilitator for the roundtable discussion. We have allocated 10 minutes for each presentation, and 10 minutes for the roundtable discussion. The secretariat will sound a bell at the 7th minute of each presentation, and at the 10th minute. At the end of the presentations, it will be followed by a roundtable discussion facilitated by an assigned port authority. During the roundtable discussion, the facilitator's role is to keep the discussion within the given timeframe, facilitate and wrap up the discussion with a few key takeaways. As the host, I will also help ensure that the event proceedings are within the time allocated. To allow for open sharing, discussions are off the record but a summary of the main points of discussion for each presentation topic will be made and shared with everyone after the event for future reference.

The first Topic is on Port developments - challenges and opportunities for port authorities. Ships are getting bigger in recent years. For example, MSC Oscar, with a capacity of 19,200 TEUs, is now the world's largest container ship. In addition, Maersk Line is reported to have plans to order mega vessels with capacity of 20,000 TEUs. The increase in size of ships has posed challenges as well as opportunities for the port authorities. Singapore is no exception. MPA has started planning for its Next Generation Port that will utilise more advanced technology and processes. This morning, we have the privilege of hearing from authorities from Busan, Japan and Thailand on their port development plans and the challenges and opportunities they face. Dato' David Padman, GM of Port Klang Authority, Malaysia has kindly agreed to help facilitate the roundtable discussion for this topic.

After the tea break, we will be discussing Topic 2 on Port safety, efficiency and sustainability. MPA and the Port of Rotterdam will be presenting on this topic, and MPA will share our recent efforts and initiatives to ensure safety, efficiency and sustainability in the Port of Singapore. We are honoured to have Mr. Grant Gilfillan, CEO, Port Authority of New South Wales, Australia, also current President of the International Association of Ports and Harbours (IAPH), to help facilitate the roundtable discussion for topic 2.

Finally, Topic 3 on Future ready infrastructure and technology in ports will touch on harnessing technologies and intelligent systems that can help us improve productivity, raise efficiency and ease the resource constraints that most port authorities face. I believe that technology can be a powerful force multiplier, and a growing number of container terminals are already adopting automated solutions to enhance their land and labour productivity, port reliability, safety of operations, and reduce the impact on the environment. I look forward to hearing from the port authorities of Antwerp, Ningbo and the Philippines on how they leverage technology in the operations and development of their ports. Mr Allard Castelein, President & CEO, Port of Rotterdam Authority will facilitate the roundtable discussion.

Networking Opportunities in PAR

To make this roundtable event even more fruitful for the participating port authorities, we have also invited senior officials from the inaugural Advanced Maritime Leadership Programme (AMLP) to join us for a networking lunch today. The AMLP is a new flagship programme organised by MPA Academy, the training arm of MPA. It is designed to hone the leadership skills of senior maritime leaders and build new capacity to transform their organisation. For the AMLP, we have invited participants from Asia, Africa, Carribean, Europe and Middle East. In addition, we have also invited Panama delegates from our Distinguished Visitors Programme, as well as Mr Juvenal Shiundu, Kenya's candidate for the IMO secretary-general election. We have also invited Mr Andreas Chrysostomou, Cypriot's candidate for the IMO secretary-general election to join in our networking session.

We have also invited notable maritime industry leaders in Singapore, to join us for the pre-dinner networking drinks session and dinner. We hope you can take full advantage of your attendance here in Singapore to make your visit and participation truly fruitful.

Conclusion

Without further ado, may I declare the inaugural Port Authorities Roundtable, open.

I shall now hand over the time to our distinguished guest speaker, Dr. Martin Stopford. Dr Stopford please.

Thank you.