FONASBA is the international representative body for Shipbrokers and Agents covering more than 70 countries worldwide. It brings together its Members’ voices and represents them with authority in the appropriate policy-making bodies at all levels: local, regional and international.
FONASBA also partners with other prominent Maritime Organisations with the aim of sharing knowledge and inform, collaborating and finding solutions to the many challenges that the shipping professionals are facing on a daily basis.
As the President Javier Dulce said in his opening speech at the welcome reception:
"The FONASBA annual meeting get together is a perfect opportunity to learn from each other, share insights, and develop new relationships. In a permanently changing world, our industry must adapt, innovate, and embrace new technologies. Through forums like this, we can explore fresh perspectives and collaborative solutions to our challenges, from digitalization and environment to new regulations."
During the 3 days of seminars and workshops, the Delegates participated in lively discussions in the plenary meetings of its Standing Committees, and enjoyed presentations of experts from Simpson Spence and Young - SSY, Oceanly, Shipping Strategy, Banchero Costa, RINA, DA-Desk/Marcura, BIMCO, ITIC, the ports of Antwerp-Bruges and Aqaba, ONE Line, Stargo, Awake.
Delegates attended from Algeria, Argentina, Belgium, Brazil, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Egypt, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Japan, Lebanon, Malaysia, Montenegro, Morocco, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Turkey, the United Kingdom, Vietnam, and of course Jordan.
All were ready and willing to embark on a journey of knowledge sharing, networking, and collaboration, with a spirit of unity and cooperation that is at the core of FONASBA. During his closing remarks, the President mentioned how the past few days had been a remarkable journey of collaboration and relationships building.
In particular, the President thanked Dr Dureid Mahasneh and the hosts from Jordan Shipping Association – JSA, for all their support, warmth, and generosity.
Mr. Dulce also extended his gratitude to the Jordan Authorities and the many Members of the Jordan Shipping Association who took the time to participate in the various sessions. He went on saying: "As we prepare to leave Amman, we do so with a sense of commitment fulfilled, and we look forward to our annual meeting in 2024, which will bring us together again in the city of Athens. In the meantime, we will continue the work through our global network, sharing insights and driving progress in our professions."
FONASBA's Annual Meeting at a glance: Monday, 16 October 2023 During the ECASBA's session, the agenda was full with all the hot topics under discussion now in Brussels. In the next weeks, the Committee will support all the members to face and manage all these upcoming issues and challenges.
The Shipbrokers' panel, hosted by the Committee Chair Fulvio Carlini and vice-Chair Mohamed El Mezouar, had top-notch speakers: Mark Williams of Shipping Strategy Ltd and Enrico Paglia from Banchero Costa Network for the session on Geopolitical impacts.
Digital tools' session: Alastair Stevenson, SSY; Alessandro Pescetto, RINA and Giampiero Soncini, Oceanly Srl.
Tuesday, 17 October 2023 DA-Desk session hosted by Simone Carlini, with Dionysis Tzelepis, Alex Garroch, and George Tsougkranis joining the delegates to initiate an overdue conversation with our members.
Then, Martyn Griffiths MCIPR from CLIA | Cruise Lines International Association delivered a fantastic introduction, informing about the work the Association is doing in the Cruising Sector worldwide, also offering to collaborate with FONASBA national association representatives to achieve better outcomes for all players in the value chain.
Antonio Belmar da Costa hosted the Plenary on Association best practices, providing an overview of ideas that could be implemented regularly to improve engagement with the members. During this session, there was also a presentation by Julio Fernandez Guillen, ASECOB Asociación Española de Consignatarios de Buques focused on the latest Agency training courses. Raymond Troch presented the Inspiring Our Future (IoF) session, giving an overview of the developments in the port of Antwerp-Bruges and an introduction to the work undertaken by Stargo. In this IoF Plenary, Karno Tenovuo presented the work of Awake.AI.
Last but not least, Mr. Thiago Santos presented his research project awarded with the FONASBA YABA award this year.
Wednesday, 18 October 2023 The third and final day of the FONASBA annual meeting was opened by HE Khaled Irani, Former Minister of the Environment, Former Chairman of Royal Society for Conservation of Nature and Environment Advisor. The Green Maritime transportation seminar took place after his intervention, with: Medhat El Kady, EIFFA "Egyptian International Freight Forwarding Association"; Mathias Weismann Poulsen, Aqaba Container Terminal - ACT; Colin De Souza, Ocean Network Express, and with a lively and engaging Q&A session.
FONASBA President Javier Dulce conducted the 2023 Council meeting, during which the results of the action plan and projects for the new year were presented and discussed with the representatives of member organizations. The President also expressed his gratitude to the Jordan Shipping Association for hosting the event and to the delegates who traveled to Amman, Jordan, contributing to a really productive annual meeting.
