IMO Secretary-General Kitack Lim and Dr. Dante Mossi, Executive President of the Central American Bank for Economic Integration (CABEI) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on future cooperation in the maritime sector.
The agreement, signed on 20 March, is intended to assist developing countries to strengthen their maritime port sectors and to facilitate the adoption of sustainable maritime transport systems and practices.
The MoU commits both parties to help build capacity, exchange experiences and knowledge in legal policy and institutional processes, and with implementation of national legislations and policies. This will be achieved through joint activities with national authorities of selected countries and, where appropriate, with other stakeholders.
The objective of the Central American Bank for Economic Integration is to promote the economic integration and the balanced economic and social development of the Central American region.
At a signing ceremony for the MoU at IMO Headquarters, the IMO Secretary-General highlighted the importance of maritime activities in the region and his Voyage Together initiative. Mr. Lim acknowledged the agreement as a great milestone for IMO and CABEI in achieving the goals of both organizations.
Proposed areas of cooperation under the MoU include marine environment protection and climate change; maritime safety; maritime security; and trade flow and maritime legislation and regulatory frameworks.
Countries set to benefit from this new partnership are Belize, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and Panama.