Between 7th and 9th October, the Shipping Deputy Ministry, in collaboration with the Cyprus Union of Shipowners and the Cyprus Shipping Chamber, will host its hugely anticipated biennial Maritime Cyprus Conference, themed ‘Sea Change’.

With over 800 shipping executives from across the globe due to attend, and a packed programme featuring an impressive speaker line-up of leading ship owners, regulatory bodies representatives and industry professionals, this year’s event is shaping up to be the biggest and most impactful since its inception.

In this interview with Nastasa Pilides, we catch up with the Shipping Deputy Minister to get the insider scoop on this year’s programme. #MarCy19

This is your first Maritime Cyprus Conference since your appointment as Shipping Deputy Minister. What are you looking forward to most?

It’s been a hugely busy and exciting year and a half for me, as I continue to work with my fantastic team here at the SDM to implement our newly developed strategy, which aims to build upon Cyprus’ leading position on the maritime world platform. Much of my time has been spent travelling to various locations around the world to build and strengthen our relationships with our key stakeholders, and to promote the Cyprus Register, the Cyprus shipping cluster and our related maritime activities.

Now my team and I will finally have the opportunity to warmly welcome our industry colleagues and friends to Cyprus where together we’ll tackle some of the industry’s most pressing issues. There’s also plenty of cause to celebrate as this year marks the 30-year anniversary of the Maritime Cyprus conference!

We are delighted with this year’s speaker line-up, which includes some of the biggest and most influential names in shipping. We’ve worked hard to put together a meaningful and forward-looking conference programme, which is relevant to the current industry and reflects our global mission.

The theme of this year’s conference is ‘Sea Change’. Can you explain the idea behind this?

Decarbonisation, technological transformation, increasing regulation and the challenging markets of recent years are all increasing the complexity of the current business environment and challenging the effectiveness of traditional business models. With all this change affecting every aspect of our work from the strategic to the day-to-day, it is often difficult to gauge the extent and nature of change needed on the inside, in order to effectively deal with change coming in from the outside.

Yet with change comes opportunity. The potential of blue growth is immense, and the opportunities for companies that effectively use technological advancement are many. Maritime Cyprus 2019 offers hundreds of maritime professionals around the world the chance to come together to solve problems and share best practice. Our packed programme features panel discussions that tackle important topics like international regulation, change management, and the sustainable use of marine resources.

What makes Maritime Cyprus stand out from other industry events?

Our bi-annual Maritime Cyprus Conference is known for its trademark format and style, as well as the quality of its speakers. All of our speakers have been invited solely on merit, and the moderated panel sessions will only take place during the mornings of the conference, with the afternoons free for meetings and networking. There’s no risk of ‘death by PowerPoint’! We will also be running our hugely popular Young Executives session – an interactive workshop which aims to connect young shipping professionals and provide them with a platform to discuss their vision for the sector.

The old port town of Limassol, where the conference takes place, also has a real allure for participants, thanks to its rich maritime history and the beauty of the surrounding landscape. Having previously been ranked by TripAdvisor as the third up-and-coming destination in the world, Limassol truly is a unique city with plenty to see and do. Our guests will have the opportunity to network with shipping executives from across the world, as well as meet senior representatives from the Shipping Deputy Ministry, the Cyprus Union of Shipowners, and the Cyprus Shipping Chamber, and familiarise themselves with the strong maritime tradition of Cyprus and its bustling maritime cluster.

Source: https://maritimecyprus.dms.mcw.gov.cy