Tackling infrastructure gaps

Ahead of the IAPH World Ports Conference in Vancouver next May, IAPH has announced eight regional workshops in collaboration with the World Bank. These seek to establish precise gaps in global port infrastructure, alongside identifying gaps in connectivity, efficiency, governance, environmental impact, digitalisation and shipping costs.

The insights gained from the workshops will set the agenda for IAPH 2022, which will aim at delivering an accurate picture of the issues the port industry must address as well as a list of priorities for policymakers, port authorities, shipping and all players in the supply chain.

Patrick Verhoeven, managing director of IAPH, said: “A lot of the issues ports have had to deal with during the pandemic as well as the ongoing supply chain crisis were discussed during the IAPH 2021 World Ports Conference in Antwerp. We had good feedback and decided to quantify and address those issues directly. Having the World Bank support us in this process is very positive given their deep involvement in port developments in so many countries and our previous work together on accelerating digitalization in the maritime transport chain.”

Competitive gaps between ports

Using the regional workshops, IAPH will address specific factors that cause competitive gaps between ports in terms of connectivity, their efficiency, and the overall costs of shipping cargo in their region. Also the regulatory environment they operate in, their level of digitalisation as well as their overall environmental performance.

Industry experts alongside leaders from IAPH member ports, associate IAPH members serving those ports, innovators, governments, regulators, infrastructure financing entities, NGOs, unions, industry associations and many more will deal with all of these topics at regional level before gathering in Vancouver between 16 and 18 May 2022 to set out a blueprint for the industry