dubai maritime city authority, the world’s first purpose-built maritime city and a member of the dubai world group of companies, has announced that it has recently signed a memorandum of understanding (mou) with confitarma, the italian ship-owners' association, during a ceremony that served as one of the highlights of the "48 ore del mare" conference in genoa, italy. the agreement calls for synergic cooperation between the two parties to promote the growth of the maritime industry in dubai and italy.
under the mou, the two parties will jointly facilitate the exchange of ideas, know-how and policies that promote mutual growth and help in consolidating the global maritime industry. the parties will likewise explore new forms of cooperation in areas that include advanced services for the shipping industry, while collaborating in the development of new investments for the two parties.
"dubai maritime city authority is pleased to sign this agreement with confitarma, an organisation that we value as a critical ally in our pursuit of global growth and excellence. this partnership delivers a strategic gain for dubai as our italian counterparts have a very dynamic shipping industry, which serves as a critical link to european markets. moreover, this will be another opportunity to showcase the unprecedented development concept and the state-of-the-art facilities within dubai maritime city," said john ewing, chief commercial officer of dubai maritime city authority.
"we are likewise delighted with the enthusiastic response of confitarma to this initiative. the italians have been greatly impressed with the highly innovative concept of dubai maritime city, which has been designed to provide all the requirements of the international maritime industry, including a full range of industrial, commercial, residential and leisure facilities. dubai maritime city's fully integrated development concept has been a key factor in the italians' strong interest in this groundbreaking agreement," added ewing.
the mou was signed by ewing on behalf of dubai maritime city and president of confitarma, nicola coccia. moreover, as part of dubai maritime city's participation in the "48 ore del mare" conference, ewing joined a group of panellists that tackled the subject “italy a global maritime community,” wherein he introduced dubai maritime city and discussed the reasons for signing the agreement with confitarma.
heir to a shipping company and shipowners’ trade association tradition that dates back to the start of the century, confitarma – the italian shipowners’ confederation – represents more than nine tenths of the italian merchant fleet. its members include shipping companies and shipowners’ groups that operate in all the different sectors of cargo and passenger transport, as well as in the cruise sector and in the supply of auxiliary traffic services.
confitarma promotes the growth of the italian merchant marine fleet under a policy that exploits the full potential of maritime transport; representing the shipping industry in dealings with political and administrative authorities, as well as with any public or private bodies, on both the national and international levels and defending the interests of its members with regard to labour-union and economic issues of both general and specific interest; and providing information and consulting services to members.
“we believe that the signing of this mou is another step made by confitarma towards the internationalisation of the italian shipping industry. italy has a strong and dynamic shipping sector and could provide dmc with the expertise needed in the realization of its ambitious project, at the same time italian ship-owners will find in dubai an excellent location for doing business with fast growing markets such india, china and the far east in general, benefiting the advantageous position and fantastic logistic facilities”. nicola coccia said.
“i’m pleased to say”, he concluded, “that the mou is one more tangible result of the excellent work done for confitarma by the young ship-owners group, headed by president giuseppe mauro rizzo, who visited dubai in may during its official mission to india and uae.
dubai maritime city has been designed to accommodate all the requirements of the global maritime industry. on completion, the multi-purpose maritime complex will feature the harbour offices, harbour residences, a maritime centre, dubai maritime city campus, a marina district, and the industrial precinct managed by drydocks world – dubai. it will also offer investors a wide variety of investment incentives such as free-zone benefits, responsive government support, a tax-free business environment and an effective port structure.
