Transportation » Shipping

As a sub-sector of Transportation – one of the Five Priority Areas of the work of the D-8 Organization –the maritime sector has rapidly grown in recent years. Given the Member Countries substantial coastline and the significance of the maritime activities in their national economies, the sector has received increasing attention and focus. The early foundations for concrete progress in this area were laid in the April 2005 Seminar on the Prospects of Shipping in the D-8 Group (Karachi, Pakistan). The Seventh Summit’s directive in July 2010 to the D-8 Commission “to explore ways of giving further impetus to the D-8 Shipping Forum’’ gave the process a strong boost. Subsequently, Nigeria held the first Expert Working Group Meeting (EWG) on Shipping in early November 2010, which was followed by the second meeting almost a year later in Abuja, Nigeria. The main objective of the Expert Working Group Meeting was to help promote and enhance collaboration among member countries on maritime training, acquisition of sea time experience by sea farers, and harmonization and simplification of customs procedures and documentation for the facilitation of shipping of goods in transit. It also aimed at developing an action plan for programs and projects in the area of shipping logistical services.

1st Meeting of D-8 EWG on Shipping November 9-10, 2010 (Abuja, Nigeria)

The D-8 member countries exchanged information on investment opportunities and cooperation in capacity building in the shipping field. The Meeting also emphasized the importance of the role of the private sector. The main recommendations of the meeting were as follows:

  •  Designation of Nigeria as the prime mover of D-8 Shipping cooperation for 2 years (2010-2012);
  • Development of maritime transportation consultation group and Website (Coordinator: Turkey);
  • Development of database for maritime trade movement among D-8 countries (Coordinator: Indonesia);
    and
  • Transmittal of the contact information for national focal points in the member countries to the D-8 Secretariat.

2nd Meeting of the D-8 EWG on Shipping, 17-18 October 2011 (Abuja, Nigeria)

The second meeting discussed the opportunities and challenges in the D-8 shipping field and focused on the exchange of experiences and best practices. It’s main recommendations/decisions were as follows:

  • Emphasis on the need for the implementation of the decisions of the 1st EWG Meeting, in particular in the area of capacity-building, e.g. TOTAR and other technical training programs;
  • Calling on Member Countries to establish proper mechanisms for effective follow-up of the decisions made with respect to establishing benchmarks and timelines;
  • Encouraging Member Countries to explore the possibility of entering into Maritime Joint Venture Agreements (MJV), including establishment of Maritime Joint Commissions for collaborative ventures;
  • Establishment of an Automated Maritime Data Access (AMDA) in order to facilitate promotion of collaboration between Member Countries;
  • The meeting also took note of the near absence of the private sector participation emphasized its importance for the future meetings; and
  • Expansion of bilateral exchanges and discussions.

The 2nd Meeting of D-8 Expert Working Group on Shipping which was held on 17-18 October 2011 in Abuja-Nigeria, The Meeting discussed and adopted the following Communique.

Desirous of reviewing and appraisal of the progress achieved thus far in the implementation of the resolutions reached at the 1st Expert Working Group Meeting (November 2010, Abuja), the 2nd Expert Working Group Meeting was convened to take stock of the state of implementation, and chart out concrete proposals for future implementation. In the course of the two-day interactive deliberations and frank exchanges between the delegations, including networking opportunities, the following are the highlights of the decisions taken at the Meeting:

  • That Member Countries should undertake in earnest to implement the resolutions of the 1st EWG Meeting, including capacity-building measures, e.g. TOTAR and other technical training programmes in the maritime sector;
  • That each Member Country should establish proper mechanisms for effective follow-up of the decisions made with respect to establishing benchmarks and timelines;
  • That Member Countries should explore the possibility of entering into Maritime Joint Venture Agreements (MJV), including establishment of Maritime Joint Commissions for collaborative ventures;
  • That the establishment of Automated Maritime Data Access (AMDA) would facilitate promotion of collaboration between Member Countries;
  • V.That the Meeting took note of the near absence of the private sector participation from the Member Countries in the Meeting and emphasized the imperative of the activation of their participation in future deliberations;
  • That the above situation should be urgently redressed towards the realization of the common objectives of facilitating private sector networking for sustainable maritime development among the D-8 Member Countries with a view to realizing the sector’s huge potential in promoting actual cooperation among the Member Countries for mutual benefits;
  • That Member Countries should pursue and conclude, as a matter of priority and preferably prior to the next meeting of the Working Group, their current bilateral exchanges and discussions.