India Maritime Week 2012, the premier maritime event in India has indeed made a good start in the right earnest. The focused sessions and special forums, held in collaboration with the industry and several trade associations led to meaningful discussion on the event theme ‘Creating Capacities for the Next Decade’.
As the government and the industry was all set to walk the talk by working diligently on the Maritime Agenda 2010-2020, Maritime India saw renewed enthusiasm and hope for the coming decade. The post-event recommendations being drafted by the proactive IMW Advisory Board and to be soon submitted to the government will indeed go a long way in accelerating the development initiatives in maritime and its allied sectors.
Cold breeze and fog enveloping the capital New Delhi on a winter morning in mid-January, with rescheduled air traffic, can indeed be a challenge for an event organiser expecting guests from across the country and the globe. But the heat could be felt and seen at Taj Palace at 9.30 am on January 19 and by sharp 10, Shah Jehan was busy receiving and accommodating more than the capacity. The conference hall in the high-profile hotel was brimming with delegates who made their way through the cold wave to be in time for the inaugural of the most happening event of the year.
For India Maritime Week that shall remain an event to reckon with till it does an en core the coming year, there seemed no looking back. Marked by an over-capacity attendance leading to a standing room situation, the high profile audience included not just the who’s who of India’s maritime sector, but also a sizeable number of people from other related entities, both Indian and overseas.
The five-day event, packing two pre-event session days and three days of focused deliberations on ports and shipping, was all set to take off for straight talk. A host of concurrent sessions catering to specific themes concerning maritime trade and commerce were truly a knowledge- and value-add. Not to mention the Gateway Golf Tournament where the industry captains teed off as they talked trade. Or the regular cocktail and dinner networking opportunities that saw people renew personal & professional ties and deals.
As the inaugural added momentum to the event, three power-packed sessions unfolded with the day, on ‘Creating Capacities: Lessons Learnt’, ‘Port-led Development: Government Role and Strategies’ and ‘Changing face of Container Shipping: What to Expect?’
Concurrent sessions saw packed audiences in the family of the Taj halls – Mumtaz Mahal, Jahanara, Roshanara, Sheesh Mahal – and not to mention the Durbar Hall where the exhibition was on in full swing.
NISAA Business Forum on ‘Container Logistics: Prospects & Threats’, the IPPTA OPEN Forum on ‘PPP in Infrastructure: Experiences and The Way Ahead’, the Inland Water Transport session on ‘Opportunity Beckons: IWT in India’ and the Shipowners Forum on ‘Policy to Piracy’ had serious discussion by the fraternity on the way to growth and capacity creation.
The conference mood reached a crescendo at the presentation of the prestigious Gateway Awards of Excellence – Ports & Shipping 2012 in the evening. Amid cheers and applause from a packed audience, the winners received awards from the Shipping Secretary. The awards process was guided by an able panel of jury and validated by KPMG and it was all explained with brief presentations. The transparent mechanism of selection also included a user survey this year. In all, 13 performers were feted with laurels this year.
The first day of the event marked the pre-event workshop ‘Developing A Successful CFS/ICD Business’ by Eredene Infrastructure Pvt Ltd.
The second day had the 2nd India Maritime Human Resources Summit that saw the academia and the industry exchange notes on tapping and promoting human capital.
The third day had the inaugural of the main conference with three power-packed sessions on ‘Creating Capacities: Lessons Learnt’, ‘Port-led Development: Government Role and Strategies’ and ‘Changing face of Container Shipping: What to Expect?’ Concurrent sessions – NISAA Business Forum on ‘Container Logistics: Prospects & Threats’, the IPPTA OPEN Forum on ‘PPP in Infrastructure: Experiences and The Way Ahead’, the Inland Water Transport session on ‘Opportunity Beckons: IWT in India’ and the Shipowners Forum on ‘Policy to Piracy’ were held.
Day four of the event saw discussion on ‘Port-led Development: Government Role and Strategies’, ‘Port Infrastructure and Connectivity’ and ‘Ship Building and Repair: Opportunities in Offshore & Defence Market’. AMTOI session on ‘Multimodal Transport: Beyond Door to Door’ was held concurrently.
Day five and the last day of the event, despite being a Saturday and an off for most official gatherings, surprisingly saw full participation and in fact interesting debate in the sessions ‘Liquid Cargo - Driving New Opportunities’, ‘Bunkering: Can India be a Destination?’ and ‘Technology and Innovation at Ports & Terminals’.
As Capt P Mukundan, Director of the International Maritime Bureau, had rightly remarked during his participation, IMW is an “excellent idea” for a country with such a large maritime interest. “Attendees,” observed Richard Peckham, Executive Director of the International Dry Bulk Terminals Group, “found themselves wanting to attend two sessions at the same time.”
India Maritime Week, returning in 2013, will ensure judicious slotting of sessions and scope for diverse participation while opening more collaborations for trade sessions. Above all, it will live up to what a whole lot of well-wishers had to say, “everything so meticulously planned and executed with elan.” Let’s look forward to the coming winter for the warmth of networking and the power of partnerships and power-packed sessions. Can one say no to another rendezvous with the Taj!
For more information on the event such as session synopsis and photographs or to download the event newsletters, log on to www.indiamaritimeweek.com
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