THE VI REGIONAL CONFERENCE AND V GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF RED MAMLa COME TO AN END

The VI Regional Conference and V General Assembly of the MAMLa Network, held on December 19-21, 2023 at the Conference Center of the Ministry of National Defense, in Guatemala City, Guatemala, was a success. 

During the 3 days of the Assembly, each Member State expressed its concerns, presented its progress reports and, together with the Executive Committee, discussed new general guidelines for the planning of local work in the implementation of the Network's Strategic Axes.

The Opening Ceremony was attended by Vice Admiral Edy Santiago Chinchilla Archila, Vice Minister of the Navy of the Ministry of National Defense, who addressed those present in his inaugural speech, highlighting the work and commitment of the members of this organization and the achievements made in terms of gender and equity in recent years.

Among the authorities present, the Vice Minister of Transportation of the VIC, Erick Alejandro Sánchez Muñiz, expressed his good wishes for the development of this Assembly and Conference. 

The welcoming remarks were made by the new Secretary General of the IMO, Arsenio Domínguez, who expressed his congratulations for the work carried out by the Network and urged those present to continue in the task of persevering in the path of creating a sustainable maritime sector.

Likewise, Elvia Bustavino, President of MAMLa Network, welcomed all the Representatives and Members of the organization, thanking them for their presence at the Assembly and the work day began.

In this way, at the Plenary Meeting, proposals and updates to the MAMLa Network strategy were presented in relation to nominations for new membership and applications to become a Host State, together with the basic requirements to apply. Aspects of the Organization's Social Responsibility Policy and Objectives were also reviewed and good practices in the implementation of the Strategic Axes were discussed. Thus, each Member State presented its current situation and the actions that have been carried out seeking continuous improvement in the application of the Network's Axes, and the strategic alliances that have allowed them to strengthen the indicators of each country.

Then, the presentation of the New Global Strategy of the Women's Maritime Associations (WIMA) of the IMO was given by Mariana Noceti, Senior Assistant of the Women in Maritime Affairs Program, who highlighted the achievements of the WIMAS since the creation of the Gender Program and reaffirmed the commitment of the IMO through actions to achieve a greater incorporation of women in the maritime sector, support their growth to access leadership positions, and create a more diverse and inclusive work culture.

The second day of the Assembly was crowned by various panel discussions and conferences where technical issues of high impact for the maritime industry in the Latin American region, as well as at the international level, were presented.

Among the topics that stood out were the Integrating Vision of the Maritime-Port Sector, the implementation of the Maritime Single Window, Greenhouse Gases (GHG), Transformational Leadership of women in the sector, the implementation of IMO Instruments, among others.

In this regard, the IMO Representative, Carlos Salgado, Head of the Latin America and the Caribbean Section of the Technical Cooperation Division and Honorary Member of MAMLa Network, also spoke, emphasizing the importance of working on the implementation of international conventions, being a key factor for the modernization of maritime-port policies, which positively impacts our region, making it more competitive at the international level.

Then, the discussion of the commitments of the Member States for the consolidation of the MAMLa Network Strategy in favor of the development, empowerment and visualization of maritime, port and logistics women in Latin America was opened. Accordingly, a working group was established by correspondence, who will be in charge of updating our Strategy with the new guidelines indicated by the IMO for the period 2024-2029, which includes the adaptation of the MAMLa Network's Social Responsibility Policies that were presented at this Conference.

The Assembly ended with a Closing Ceremony, where awards and diplomas of participation were presented to the attendees and representatives of the Member States of our Association.

From Red MAMLa we would like to express our infinite gratitude to the Member State Guatemala, and especially to the staff of the Maritime Authority of Guatemala, for being wonderful hosts of our Assembly. Receive sincere congratulations for all your professionalism, excellent management and human quality. A thousand congratulations! #TheSeaUniteUs

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