Dubai Maritime City Authority (DMCA), the government authority charged with regulating, coordinating and supervising all aspects of Dubai’s maritime sector, identified best practices and the latest trends aimed at sustainable development in the global maritime sector at the Dubai Maritime Week 2014 that concludes today (October 30).

High profile attendees including senior government figures, decision-makers, leading regional and international experts, operators, ship owners, and maritime leaders discussed key issues and the latest developments in the industry, said the statement.

The second edition of the biennial event launched the inaugural Dubai Maritime Summit which gathered the UAE’s high-ranking government officials and prominent leaders from the International Maritime Organization (IMO), the International Association of Classification Societies (IACS), the International Federation of Independent Tanker Owners (Intertanko), and Maritime London.

The discussions at the summit revolved around the rapidly evolving international maritime sector, issues facing the industry, and the integrated efforts to transform Dubai into a world-class maritime hub.

The summit specifically highlighted Dubai’s proactive initiatives in order to modernise the local sector. The emirate has taken huge strides in infrastructure upgrades, operational and logistics improvements and diverse investment offerings to make the local industry highly competitive in the regional and international markets.

Sultan bin Sulayem, chairman of Dubai Ports, Customs and Free Zone Corporation and president of DMCA, said: “By successfully hosting Dubai Maritime Week 2014, the emirate has proven once again why it is considered a center of maritime excellence and innovation.

“This year, we included in our agenda the Dubai Maritime Summit as a strategic platform to highlight Dubai’s progress in terms of infrastructure renovations, regulations and operational reforms, logistics improvements, and investment diversifications within the local maritime sector.”

“Dubai Maritime Week 2014 was a big success given the impressive wide regional and international participation and its various high-level events, including the Dubai Maritime Summit, Seatrade Maritime Awards Middle East and Indian Subcontinent, and Seatrade Middle East Maritime,” said Sulayem.

“Seatrade Middle East Maritime is one of the most prominent maritime exhibitions that opened communication channels between regional and global maritime sectors. The biennial event’s success affirms our commitment to establish a vibrant marine environment that offers diverse investment opportunities to industry leaders from around the world. We also strive to create a renewed and secure maritime sector capable of meeting Dubai’s requirements for sustainable economic development.”

Amer Ali, executive director, DMCA, has revealed the details of the third edition of Dubai Maritime Week in 2016. The event will build on the success of the first and second editions to continuously bring the local maritime sector to new levels of growth and excellence.

“DMCA is looking forward to continuing our hard work by collaborating with our strategic partners in government agencies and relevant authorities. Like this year, we are also planning to expand the agenda of the third Dubai Maritime Week to gather together an elite group of international speakers and local, regional and international maritime industry leaders. The high-profile event will provide an interactive platform for the participants to exchange experiences and best practices to help improve the global maritime sector,” he added. - TradeArabia News Service