Head of State to address opening plenary in Port of Spain

2008, October 1: The Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago, the Honourable Patrick Manning, will be the keynote speaker at the official opening of the Caribbean Shipping Association’s (CSA) 38th Annual General Meeting.

The CSA’s 2008 Annual General Meeting, Conference and Exhibition, will take place at the Hyatt Regency Trinidad hotel in Port of Spain, October 13, 14 and 15.

Honourable Patrick Manning has served as Prime Minister since the national elections of December 2001. The People’s National Movement which he continues to lead was again successful in the November 2007 elections.

Registrations for what has become one of the largest business meetings on the Caribbean annual calendar have been streaming into the CSA’s Kingston Secretariat and it is expected that 250 delegates from more than 20 countries will attend. Prime Minister Manning will therefore be addressing shipping managers and decision-makers from the Dutch, English, French and Spanish Caribbean, Northern South America, Central America and the Southern ports of the United States of America. There will also be participants, members and observers, from Europe.

Successful conference

“We are expecting a very successful conference in Port of Spain,” CSA President Fernando Rivera said. “One of our foundation members, the Shipping Association of Trinidad and Tobago is hosting this event and they have been working very hard to make this one of the best conferences in the 38 year history of this Association. I am therefore urging all who wish to attend this conference to register at the CSA website (www.caribbeanshipping.org) as soon as possible so as not to be disappointed.”

Fernando Rivera, a native of Puerto Rico, is completing his second term as CSA President and along with a number of officers serving on the Association’s General Council, will be up for re-election at the 38th. AGM when “the voice of the Caribbean Shipping industry” will elect officers to lead its three constituent groups – Shipping Agents and private stevedore companies; the port and marine terminal operators; and the ship owners and operators.

In addition to dealing with matters normally associated with an annual general meeting, delegates will receive a wealth of information, advice and analysis of a range of topics urgent and critical for the growth and development of shipping in the Caribbean. For the fact that most are island-states or, otherwise, do not have developed trade routes on their land borders, Caribbean countries rely heavily on an efficient and well developed shipping industry. The topics selected for discussion and elucidation during this three-day event were chosen to facilitate growth and development of all facets of commercial maritime operations in the region.

In addition to receiving a number of presentations on current trends and developments in the industry, delegates will get an opportunity to tour the industrial port operations at Point Lisas, operated by the Point Lisas Industrial Port Development Company (PLIPDECO).

Participants will be the first to get the new issue of the CSA Handbook of Caribbean Ports which will be circulated first at the Port of Spain conference .  There will also be advanced circulation of the latest edition of the CSA's official journal, CARIBBEAN MARITIME.