ASEAN shippers gather in Colombo for historic Summit

SUMMIT: Sri Lanka Shippers' Council (SLSC), affiliated to the Chamber of Commerce, the apex body that represents the interests of local shippers, will be hosting the 29th Annual General Meeting of the Federation of ASEAN Shippers' Council (FASC) and the 3rd Meeting of The Asian Shippers' Council (ASC) in August this year. This is the first such time that the annual conference is held in the Indian Sub-Continent.

The meeting, which is scheduled to be held from August 4-7, will see delegates from Shippers' councils from Philippines, Thailand, Singapore, Indonesia and Malaysia (ASEAN Members).

Also in attendance will be associate members from China, Korea, Australia, Macau, Hongkong, India, Pakistan and Bangladesh, while delegations from the Japanese Shippers' Council, The National Industrial Transportation League of USA, European Shippers' Council and South African Shippers' Council and Union of African Shippers' Councils will participate as observers.

The third meeting of the Asian Shippers' Council will also be conducted simultaneously and will be attended by the regional representatives from China Area, Asean, Australia, North Asia and Indian Sub-Continent.

Dr. Suardi Zen of the Indonesian Shippers' Council will chair the FASC AGM while John Lu of the Singapore Shippers' Council will chair the Asian Shippers' Council AGM.

According to Jayanath Perera, Chairman of the SLSC, this is a rare opportunity granted to Sri Lanka to showcase our country to the top decision makers in the international trade arena.

The main objective of the meeting is to discuss the key issues, which are affecting the global trade in general and specifically to the shippers engaged in transport of goods across international boundaries.

During this summit, the Ship owners' arbitrary measures that has had a negative impact on Shippers and the actions that are to be taken will be debated amongst the delegates."

However, unlike in the past, focus this year will be on fostering a win-win partnership between the ship owners and shippers," says Mr. Jayanath Perera, who headed the SLSC delegation to the previous FASC Conference held in Jakarta, last year.

The theme for the conference will be "BRIDGING GAPS".

Ananda Wijesuriya, vice chairman of SLSC is heading the committee that oversees the arrangements pertaining to the three-day summit in Colombo.

The summit also acts as a catalyst for bringing in new thinking and is a forum for idea generation and sharing.

Decisions taken at the summit are forwarded to the respective governments for policy formulation and implementation. As this is a summit of global significance international media coverage will also be given to Sri Lankan Shipping industry.