Top maritime experts and leaders will participate in the upcoming third annual The Maritime Standard Ship Finance and Trade Conference, which will now take place on November 20, following a date change forced by unexpected circumstances.

The event will take place at the Sheraton Hotel & Resort in Abu Dhabi, UAE.

The structure and goals of the event, whose theme is “Building strong partnerships to generate investment led growth”, remain the same. However, the quality of the speaker panel has been improved through the participation of several high level policy makers and executives who are now able to take their rightful place on the conference stage, said a statement from the company.

Trevor Pereira, managing director, The Maritime Standard, said: “I am tremendously excited about this conference as we have a really top drawer group of speakers from a wide range of industry backgrounds.”

“They will combine their expertise and experience to provide some unique insights in the main trade trends and commercial challenges facing the shipping and ports sectors, and how the financial sector can help the industry capitalise on emerging opportunities in the region,” he said.

Keynote presentations will be made by Dr Abdullah Salem Alkatheeri, director general of the Federal Transport Authority-Land & Maritime, who is one of the leading maritime sector policy makers in the UAE, and Captain Mohamed Juma Al Shamisi, chief executive officer, Abu Dhabi Ports.

Captain Shamisi has spearheaded the tremendous expansion at Khalifa port that has made it one of the world’s fastest growing container facilities, and has been instrumental in forging exciting new partnerships with Chinese shipping and logistics interests, such as the Cosco China Shipping group.

The keynote speakers will be followed by the main conference session in the morning, which will assess the politico-economic factors that will shape future market conditions.

This will feature two leading regional ports executives, Abdulla Bin Damithan, director commercial at DP World, and Ross Thompson, acting chief commercial and strategy officer at Abu Dhabi Ports.

They will be joined by senior figures within the Middle East shipping industry, including Ali Shehab, deputy chief executive, Kuwait Oil Tanker Company; Khamis Juma Buamim, managing director and group chief executive, Gulf Navigation Holding; and Chris Peters, chief executive, Emirates Ship Investment Company.

These speakers will set out their personal perspectives on the opportunities that currently exist and how any obstacles to future growth can be overcome through partnerships.

After lunch the standard of speakers will be maintained in a session looking at the development of future-orientated financial strategies for success. This will feature some leading ship finance experts, including Adel Al Wahedi, chief finance officer, Abu Dhabi Ports; Jacob Berman, managing director, infrastructure and transportation, Standard Chartered; Bora Bariman, head of Energy and Marine; National Bank of Fujairah; and Andrew Simmons, chief executive, GMTC.

This panel will assess how best the banking and finance sector can assist in unlocking the potential offered by regional shipping and ports. A legal perspective will be provided by Andrew Baird, partner, Watson Farley & Williams, a company with significant experience in financing and restructuring businesses in this sector.

The second afternoon session of the conference will focus on case studies that illustrate the importance of developing maritime clusters, bringing together different skills and expertise within the region to support the overall growth of the shipping and ports industry.

Attendees will hear from a number of individuals who have helped develop businesses that have helped to strengthen and diversify activities overall in the Middle East, including Stephen Bligh, principal consultant, DNV-GL; June Manoharan, managing director, Lukoil Marine Lubricants; Katherine Yakunchenkova, general manager, Al Safina Security; and Amir Mosadeghi, chief executive, Islamic P&I Club.

Pereira said: “This is shaping up to be a not-to-be-missed event that will give attendees plenty of inspiration and fresh ideas that will add value to their own businesses.”

“A full conference hall packed with senior executives and decision makers will also give plenty of opportunity to network,” he added. – TradeArabia News Services