IMO’s globally recognized training centre, the IMO International Maritime Law Institute (IMLI), has held its 29th annual graduation ceremony at the Maritime Museum in Vittoriosa, Malta (9 June). Fifty-one students from 41 countries graduated from programs covering all areas of international maritime law in a ceremony presided over by IMO Secretary-General and Chair of the IMLI Governing Board, Kitack Lim, who heralded the Institute and congratulated the graduates on their achievement.
Prior to the ceremony, Secretary-General Lim paid a courtesy call on the Prime Minister of Malta, H.E. Joseph Muscat in Valletta, and expressed his appreciation to the Prime Minister and the Government of Malta for its continued support to IMLI. In his response, the Prime Minister said that Malta was honoured to host IMLI which, as one of the cornerstones of IMO’s capacity-building work, has trained over 900 lawyers from 142 countries, some of whom were holding high-level positions in their countries.
The Prime Minister was accompanied by H.E. Carmelo Abela, Minister for Foreign Affairs, with the Secretary-General being accompanied by Prof. David Attard, Director of IMLI and Juvenal Shiundu, Acting Director of the IMO Technical Cooperation Division.