Tarek Shahin, Chairman of Damietta Port Authority (DPA) participated in the activities of the General Assembly of the MEDports Association and MEDports Forum which took place in Marseille, France from 24 to 25 June 2019.

The meeting began with introducing new members, presenting the semi-annual reports and projects of the six subcommittees and reviewing the executive steps for the establishing a website of the association.

Shahin participated in the seminar entitled “Mediterranean Ports Initiatives and Efforts in the Face of Environmental Challenges”, which tackled issues like the blue economy and the green ports, and the role of Mediterranean ports in international shipping.

The discussions also addressed the objectives and the constraints of the transformation into green energy sources within the maritime transport sector, including the report of the Sustainability Committee of the Association and the impact of climate change on ports and the efforts of European ports in this regard.

The discussions dealt with the innovative green logistics solutions in the ports, including the World Program for Port Sustainability (WPSP), the innovative legislative frameworks to reduce the pollutant emissions of the environment and the efforts of some African ports in this regard. The conference also addressed the issue of smart ports as an innovative tool to reduce the effects of environmental changes and review the project of the Smart Ports Committee (Data Mare Nostrum).

During the forum, Shahin gave a presentation on the port of Damietta in which he pointed to its distinguished location on the international trade route and near the Suez Canal.  He also pointed out that Damietta Port has an environmental observatory to measure the percentage of pollution, if any, in the air, sea, soil and a reception facility of ship waste.

DPA Staff