Photo: Ashitakka, Flickr

The Annual Conference of the International Association of Maritime Economists IAME 2011 Latin America, which seeks to build new research and industry networks and to deepen knowledge of the shipping market and ports in Latin America and the Caribbean, will take place between 25 and 28 October at ECLAC Headquarters in Santiago, Chile.

The meeting is organized by a strategic alliance of institutions: the Transport Research Institute (TRI) of Edinburgh Napier University, Scotland, United Kingdom, the Institute of Transport and Maritime Management Antwerp (ITMMA) of the University of Antwerp, Belgium, and the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) Natural Resources and Infrastructure Division, who is hosting the event.

At present, maritime services and ports play a key role as facilitators of international trade. However, at the same time, the shipping and port industry faces numerous challenges as a result of continuous changes in the economic conditions and the pressures on the environment and human resources.

In this context, the event will try to analyse, discuss and propose solutions to concerns such as: What are the effects of the current economic conditions on shipping markets? What are the responses from ports? Are the current challenges changing the geography of world maritime transport? Is the shipping industry prepared to take on new environmental challenges?

The role that shipping networks and ports play in the competitiveness of countries in the global economy will also be discussed.

At IAME 2011, ECLAC Natural Resources and Infrastructure Division will present a study which plans the time that the largest ships at present (13,000 TEU on average), designed to transport containers, will take to get to South American coasts.

This issue, considered crucial for future competiveness of ports in the countries of the region, requires a planning and optimization effort of the regional public policies, strenghthening the importance of introducing an integrated and long-term vision. According to ECLAC, this is a central element for the sustainable development of the regional infrastructure and logistic operation.

The International Association of Maritime Economists, founded at the start of the 1990s, currently has 500 individual members from all of the continents and more than 20 affiliated corporations. Every year, it holds conferences which are organized by different institutions.

Other more specific issues which will be dealt with at the meeting include the management of containers, cruise shipping, competition and cooperation between ports, the situation of ferries and motorways of the sea, education and continuous training, as well as other institutional, regulatory and maritime transport safety aspects.