2-day ports conclave on Nov 7 and 8

Visakhapatnam: A first-of-its-kind two-day ports conclave, BIMSTEC (

Bay of Bengal

Initiative for Multi-Sectoral

Technical

and

Economic

Cooperation) will be held in the city on November 7 and 8. Member nations such as Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Thailand besides hosts India would participate in the conclave. This is the first time in the history of ports that an exclusive ports summit is being organised.

Vizag Port Trust (VPT) chairman K Rammohan Rao and deputy chairman Haranth said around 50 delegates from various ports of member countries will participate in the conclave in which five major sessions would be organised each day. Union minister of shipping Mansukh Mandaviya will also attend the event besides the chairmen of all 12 major ports in India.

The conclave will discuss on how ports can become centres for industrialisation and tourism. Safety and security of ports, ease of doing business, green port operations and other aspects will also be deliberated. VPT, Chennai and Kolkata ports will sign a MoU with Ranong port of Thailand for cooperation between the ports as the Thai port is close to the eastern coast of India and would provide bilateral advantage to both countries. tnn