IMO Secretary-General Kitack Lim has stressed the importance of global standards and regulations developed by governments at IMO, as the foundation for shipping to become safer, more efficient, cleaner and greener, during a visit to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (23-24 September).
Mr. Lim was addressing officials from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Border Guard, the Ministry of Transport and the shipping fraternity at the Prince Mohammed bin Naif Academy for Maritime Science and Security Studies, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. He highlighted the accomplishments of IMO’s environmental work, noting that international shipping was the first industry to be subject to global, mandatory, energy-efficiency measures designed to address greenhouse gas emissions. He also applauded the entry into force of the Ballast Water Management Convention earlier this month, as an important step towards addressing further global threats to marine environment.
Secretary-General Lim also met the Saudi Minister of Transport, Mr. Suliman Al-Hamdan. The Minister hailed the cooperation between IMO and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia before announcing a donation of US$1.0 million to support the work of IMO technical cooperation programme, the World Maritime University (WMU) and the International Maritime Law Institute (IMLI).
Mr. Lim later attended a celebration to mark this year’s World Maritime Day celebrations by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, under the theme: "Connecting Ships, Ports and People".