Director of Trade Development and Investment Promotion at Ministry of Commerce and Industry Hamad Mohammed Al Nasr delivering official keynote address.
Doha, Qatar: Director of Trade Development and Investment Promotion at Ministry of Commerce and Industry Hamad Mohammed Al Nasr delivered the official keynote address for Day 2 of the inaugural Seatrade Maritime Qatar event in Doha, Qatar stating that “This conference represents an opportunity to explore new areas of fruitful cooperation between Qatar and its global partners and is an opportunity to exchange knowledge and experiences and enhance cooperation, and will contribute to opening new opportunities between companies and institutions.”
Speaking to more than 200 delegates, Al Nasr said: “This event is the first of its kind in Qatar - an important platform that brings together experts and specialists from all over the world in the fields of maritime transportation and logistics through which we aim to expand our network of international partnerships in the maritime transportation and logistics sector.
“In addition, improving the competitiveness in the management and operation of Qatari seaports has contributed to achieving significant growth in trade exchange between these ports and many agreements have been signed with countries and international ports which have has strengthened Qatar’s role as a major centre in this sector.”
He added: “The Ministry of Commerce and Industry continues to cooperate with all local and international partners to develop strategies and initiatives that contribute to enhancing the efficiency and sustainability of all vital sectors, including the maritime sector, in line with its 2024-2030 development strategy.”
The opening keynote was followed by a Fireside Chat between Seatrade Maritime News Content Director, Emma Howell and Hassan Alemadi, Senior Director Business Accounts, Oredoo Qatar, telecom sponsor of Seatrade Maritime Qatar which led the way to a panel session on ‘The Digital Maritime Industry – is it here, near and secure?’
Discussion centred around the fact that digitalization in the maritime industry is projected to be worth $423.4bn by 2031 and whether the solutions are safe from growing cybersecurity threats? The panel included: Nick Chubb, CEO and founder of Thetius; Eng. Asmaa Abdulaziz Mirzaei, IT Manager, Mwani Qatar; Jassim Al Majid, VP, Information Technology, Milaha; Gareth Burton, Senior Vice President, Global Engineering, ABS; Mr. Ghassan Kosta, Regional Manager, Google Cloud; and Julian Panter, CEO, SmartSea.
The conversation continued during a sixth session, ‘Offshore expansion & the North Field project’ led by moderator, Fazel Fazelbhoy CEO, Synergy Offshore FZ LLE and panellists: Ahmed Desouki, Lead-Civil, SFSF Project Manager, Onshore Works Section – Projects & Engineering Directorate, Hamad Port Project; Danial Kaabi, CEO, SeaHorizon Offshore; and Ali A Shehab, Global Director of Special Projects & Services, DNV.
The final session of the inaugural Seatrade Maritime Qatar – Financing Tech Advanced & Green Fleets of The Future – generated much audience participation in a discussion led by Adam Kent, MD, Maritime Strategies International and panellists: Ali Abouda, Group CFO, Gulf Navigation; Capt Zarir Irani, Dy. Registrar for “Antigua and Barbuda” maritime registry; Chinar Zaidi, Managing Associate, Maritime, Trade & Offshore, Middle East, Stephenson Harwood; and Tajas Shah, CFO, Tomini Group.
