IMO Secretary-General Sekimizu has delivered two addresses at the Kenya National Maritime Conference (23-24 February). In his keynote speech, on the theme of "Maritime Education and Training: A catalyst for development of Africa's blue economy”, Secretary-General Sekimizu spoke about the importance of maritime education and training, which is the theme for this year’s World Maritime Day. In his opening remarks, Mr Sekimizu noted that the huge potential of the oceans of the blue economy to assist in the development of the African continent and help strengthen African integration and unity had already been recognised in three key documents; namely: the African Maritime Transport Charter, 2010; the 2050 Africa Integrated Maritime Strategy (2050 AIM Strategy); and the Africa Union Agenda 2063.
Secretary-General Sekimizu highlighted the importance of developing a national maritime policy for Kenya, in order to identify consistent steps to be followed in improving the status of Kenya as a maritime nation, mapping out its maritime clusters and working in harmony to achieve a blue economy.
In his opening address to the Conference, H.E. Hon. Uhuru Kenyatta, C.G.H , President and Commander in Chief of Defence Forces of the Republic of Kenya ,stated that the principal aim of the conference was to begin the development of a clear national plan, central to which was infrastructure and human resource development, in order to better harness the potential of Kenya's "blue economy". The President stated that technical assistance provided by IMO had helped Kenya to develop a curriculum that had since been used to train maritime experts. The President expressed his appreciation to Secretary-General Sekimizu for his support to Africa and Kenya, specifically in relation to the development and implementation of the Djibouti Code of Conduct through which piracy in the Indian Ocean had been brought under control.