IMO Secretary-General Kitack Lim has emphasized the importance of shipping and the need to ensure healthy oceans at the Georgia International Maritime Forum (GIMF) in Batumi (12-16 September). Mr. Lim praised the Forum’s contribution to the global discussion taking place around IMO’s World Maritime Day theme “Shipping: indispensable to the world”, and emphasized that maritime transport is the backbone of international trade – supplying people all over the world with the commodities, fuel, goods and products that they depend on. Mr. Lim also opened a one-day Seminar on Maritime Transport Policy for Senior Maritime Transport Officials held alongside the GIMF, involving senior maritime transport officials from the littoral States of the Black and Caspian Seas and Moldova.
The IMO World Maritime Day 2016 will take place on 29 September and will include an international forum, featuring a panel discussion on global shipping’s future challenges. Information about the day, forum, and resources, including a video message from Secretary-General Lim, can be found here.