... CSA President advises

2005, May 25, Kingstown, SVG: Companies in the Caribbean shipping industry need to look for ways to diversify their businesses and form partnerships in response to the trend of corporate mergers and acquisitions that have become more frequent in recent years.

Citing the recent announcement that AP Moller-Maersk (known in our region more commonly as Maersk Sealand) has made an offer for Royal P&O Nedlloyd, the President of the Caribbean Shipping Association (CSA), Corah Ann Robertson-Sylvester said diversification and partnerships are options to be considered since the geography of the Region assures that shipping will survive to the end of time.

Mrs. Robertson-Sylvester made her comments as she addressed the opening session of the CSA’s fourth annual Caribbean Shipping Executives Conference held May 23 to 25 in Kingstown, St. Vincent and the Grenadines.

Mrs. Robertson-Sylvester said: “Globalization is now a fact of life and our Industry is experiencing change not unlike other industries. One phenomenon of the current world economy, especially in the last 15 years, is the trend toward mergers and acquisitions. The breaking news of last week was of the impending merger of two of the world’s largest shipping lines. I must add that these lines form part of the history of the shipping community of the Caribbean and they certainly have been a vibrant part of the CSA‘s development with representation from the lines themselves and through their agents. The lines I speak of are Maersk - Sealand and P&O Nedlloyd.

SIGNIFICANT EFFECT

“It is expected that if the negotiations are concluded and there are no legal problems this merger will happen before the end of 2005. This will have significant effects on the seascape of our region affecting not only agencies, but Port Authorities, Terminal companies, stevedores and National Associations.”

Stating that such mergers occur as large firms respond to both the challenge of international competitive pressures and the opportunities offered through economies of scale; technological innovation and a more open world economy, the CSA President posed the rhetorical question: “How do we deal with these mergers?”

“We must look for ways to diversify our businesses and form partnerships within the Caribbean transportation context. The geography of our region assures that shipping will survive to the end of time – so as players in this business we must create opportunities for ourselves,” she said.

“The CSA has played, and will continue to play a pivotal role in harmonizing the Caribbean shipping industry into an integrated community. Through fora such as these, we bring to our members information on all the latest happenings in our business worldwide - information that should stimulate our discussions toward the creation of new business opportunities for ourselves, our countries and our Region.”