Preparations are now well underway for the sixth annual The Maritime Standard Ship Finance and Trade Conference. The event will be held once again in Abu Dhabi, at the Sofitel Abu Dhabi Corniche, on Sunday 8th November 2020, building further on the reputation for quality information sharing and networking it has deservedly earned over the past five years.
In 2019 the Conference, hosted by Abu Dhabi Ports, attracted a high-quality audience of around 200 executives and decision makers from across different sections of the industry. They assembled to discuss and debate the key issues and trends facing the market in the Middle East and the Indian Subcontinent, with a particular focus on financial issues. The audience heard from some of the best-known personalities in the business, all leaders in their chosen fields, who collectively highlighted the importance of the shipping, ports and other maritime sectors working more closely with the financial services sector.
Keynote speaker, H.E. Ahmed Shareef Alkhoori, Director General, Federal Transport-Land & Maritime, set the tone, stressing that financial institutions have a key role to play in helping to unlock the barriers that can exist to the development of the maritime business. Abu Dhabi Ports chief executive, Capt. Mohamed Juma Al Shamisi, gave the second keynote presentation, similarly calling for closer ties between the financial services sector and those active in shipping and ports.The chief executive of Abu Dhabi-based ADNOC Logistics & Services, Capt. Abdulkareem Al Masabi, then gave the third keynote, offering a strategic market insight from a ship owner perspective.
The main session on regional and global trade trends featured a high quality panel of business leaders. These included Ali Shehab, CEO, Kuwait Oil Tanker Company; Chris Peters, CEO, Emirates Ship Investment Company; Zhang Wei, Assistant General Manager, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Limited (ICIC); Capt. S.R. Patnaik, CEO, International Shipping & Logistics; and Bobby Varghese, Vice President – Financial Strategy, Abu Dhabi Ports
After lunch the programme moved on to address how different approaches to finance can help maritime companies’ future proof their businesses. In this session the speakers included Andrew Simmons, CEO, Global Marine Transport; Vijay Kamath, Regional Head, North Star Asia Maritime (NSAM); Nitin Mehta, CEO, Tomini Group; and George Giannakis, Managing Director, StormHarbour.
Breaking down the barriers to greater shipping and finance industry collaboration was the subject of the third and final session, featuring a varied series of presentations. K. B. Chandramouli, Director- Shipping, Aviation and ECA Financing, Faber Capital; Richard Briggs, Member of EMAC Board of Trustees and Executive Partner at Hadef & Partners; Nabil Azzouz, Vice President-Marine & Energy (International), Abu Dhabi National Insurance Company; Tien Tai, Partner, HFW; and Nijoe Joseph, Partner, Stephenson Harwood, all kept the audience fully engaged, and listening intently right to the end.
For the 2020 TMS Ship Finance and Trade Conference, currently at an advanced planning stage, a similarly high quality group of speakers and panelists will be assembled. Based on the very positive experience of the first five events in the series, this will be a not-to-be-missed Conference that will not only feature a chance to learn from industry experts but will provide extensive opportunities for networking as well.
Why Attend
Attending the Conference provides shipping and trade professionals with the chance to enter into dialogue with key decision makers representing some of the biggest names in the industry. As Conference chairman, Clive Woodbridge, editor of The Maritime Standard, points out, “It is a really dynamic conference with some extremely interesting presentations, and interaction between panelists and audience, that advances peer-to-peer learning.” The event always attracts an audience of top tier executives, not just from across the Middle East and Subcontinent region, but from Europe and Asia as well.
CEO, Tomini Group
Vice President Marine & Energy, ADNIC
Partner, HFW