Next edition 2024 to be hosted by Hamburg Port
The conference built on and extended the insightful, engaging and wide-ranging discussions, led by global port industry leaders, policy makers and industry experts, under the theme ‘Reinventing Ports’.
One of the highlights was a roundtable on port innovation, where technology experts showcased a real-world example of a port cyber resilience centre. Discussions then moved on to the economic outlook for global container ports from the analyst, academic and industry perspective, factoring in geopolitics, sourcing trends, emissions regulations and the breakup of shipping alliances.
World Bank
Participants also heard from the World Bank’s lead transport economist on the updates the Bank is making to its Port Reform Toolkit, long used by many countries and their ports as a model for private-public concessioning of landlord ports.
With the UAE currently marking its Year of Sustainability, the theme of sustainability continued into the final day. This included a final panel session featuring HE Razan Khalifa Al Mubarak, UN Climate Change Champion for COP28, and President of the International Union for Conservation of Nature.
“At AD Ports Group, we see the transition to clean energy, and digital transformation, as opportunities rather than challenges, which is why sustainability and digitalisation lie at the heart of our business strategy,” stressed Othman Khouri, Acting Executive Director, Corporate Authority, AD Ports Group.
