Business Bureau, Gulf Today

The Dubai Maritime City Authority (DMCA) has completed its preparations ahead of hosting the UAE Maritime Week 2019, held under the patronage of Sheikh Hamdan Bin Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and Chairman of the Executive Council, as part of the enhanced efforts to establish the UAE’s leadership as a first-class maritime destination and a strong competitor on the global maritime map. The fifth edition, taking place from September 22-26, will highlight the achievements of the UAE’s maritime sector and emphasise Dubai’s leadership in the Middle East as the emirate ranked first regionally and fifth globally among the best maritime centers in the world for 2019.

The upcoming event promises to attract maritime industry leaders from around the world as it offers a unified platform to explore the future of the maritime industry from the perspective of innovation, knowledge and smart transformation, in line with the rapid changes of the 21st century. Additionally, the attendees will explore the prospects of maritime trade growth through a series of high-level seminars that facilitate exchanging the best international practices and most successful experiences, including Dubai’s transition to a major maritime portal for global trade.

Amer Ali, Executive Director, DMCA, said: “The UAE Maritime Week is once again reaffirming Dubai’s position as a preferred global destination for leading maritime events, providing a strategic platform to enhance the convergence, communication and interaction between maritime industry leaders, strengthen bridges of knowledge transfer, and share international best practices that will advance the maritime industry to a new level of growth and sustainability.”

He continued: “This unique event presents an ideal opportunity to showcase Dubai and the UAE as being at the forefront of the global maritime map, and emphasise the continuous support of the wise leadership to upgrade the capabilities of integrated and advanced infrastructure and modernise legislation and laws to provide the best maritime and logistics services that match the best in the world.”

The Dubai Maritime Agenda is at the forefront of the strategic events scheduled on the sidelines of the UAE Maritime Week 2019 and will bring together maritime industry leaders, decision makers, regional and international experts, government officials, policy makers and representatives of major international companies working in the maritime sector. The current edition of the Dubai Maritime Agenda, scheduled to be held on September 22, will once again highlight Dubai’s position as a key player driving the progress of local and global maritime industry based on the pillars of creativity, technical innovation, excellence, training and human capital. The emirate entered the top five list in the International Shipping Center Development Index, becoming the first Arab city to earn this recognition and positioning itself as one of the top five marine centers in the world for 2019.

The Dubai Maritime Agenda is comprehensive and diverse and will address a range of pivotal issues affecting the present and the future of the local and global maritime sector. Elaborated discussions within the global maritime industry will be held in four main sessions, the first of which will be titled ‘Trade Uncertainty: Fundamentals of the Marine Market.’ During the session ‘China, Brexit, and maritime market fundamentals’ the impact of the current global trade instability on the shipping sector will be reviewed, with a possible future direction of asset values and projections related to global oil prices and their potential impacts on the maritime industry.

The session, themed ‘Artificial Intelligence/Block-Chain Technologies and Maritime Trade’, will discuss the extent by which new technologies are adopted by the shipping and logistics sectors compared to other industries. The development of effective technological solutions to current and emerging challenges and the compatibility of regulatory and legal systems with the introduction of new technologies will also be discussed. The benefits of new technology, cybersecurity threats and the impact of artificial intelligence, automation and other digital systems on the human element in shipping will be under the spotlight as well. A third session focused on ‘Globalisation and Consolidation: Two Major Trends within the Maritime Industry’ will discuss ways to unify efforts among industry leaders in the future and to improve the readiness and attractiveness of shipping for investment, in addition to identifying future opportunities within the shipping sector for leading companies and the private family business represents the next phase of globalisation in shipping and logistics.

The fourth session themed ‘Regional Maritime Growth and Trade Opportunities’ focuses on the regional dimension and the promising commercial opportunities for the maritime sector in the Gulf region and the Middle East. The session will bring together high-level experts from the region to explore the scope and nature of developments in the region as a global hub for maritime and logistic transport. It will also study the prospects of building key trade partnerships and future growth potential in trade with China and the Indian subcontinent.