UAE elected vice-president of shipping body

Dubai: The UAE has been elected vice-president of the International Ship Suppliers and Services Association (ISSA) — a global trade body, a top official told Gulf News.

The UAE's 44 registered ship suppliers represent an industry worth Dh1.2 billion.

"The UAE has been elected vice-president and Executive Member of the International Ship ISSA, which is a matter of honour and pride," Saeed Malek, President of the UAE National Ship Suppliers Association, told Gulf News yesterday.

"It also reflects our strength and position in the industry."

ISSA's decision came on the eve of its 55th annual convention currently underway in Dubai, where more than 400 participants representing the global shipping industry gathered to iron out obstacles that hamper growth that help move more than 80 per cent of the global commodities. One of the key issues addressed at the convention was piracy that is affecting the industry.

Established 55 years ago, ISSA is the international association representing nearly 2,000 ship suppliers worldwide. It has 44 national associations of ship suppliers as full members and associate members in 52 other countries where no national association exists.

The UAE should set up a panel on shipping affairs to help structure the growth of the UAE's shipping sector, Malek urged yesterday.

"There should be a shipping panel to represent every aspect of the industry to help the sector grow faster," Malek said.

"The UAE's shipping industry is a vibrant one and despite the current econ-omic challenges, we are growing."

The UAE National Ship Suppliers Association is a trade body of 44 ship suppliers in the UAE. However, only 17 of them are members of the association.

"I would like to urge the rest to join the association and strengthen our voice in the industry," Malek told Gulf News.

The exchange of capital, goods and services across international borders is known as international trade and in many countries it represents a significant share of the nation's gross domestic product (GDP.) In 2007, liner ships transported $4.6 trillion worth of goods that were traded internationally.

Over 400 liner shipping services provide regularly scheduled service between ports along a single trade route or a group of trade routes.

Over 200 countries have ports open to container ships. Ports measure the volume of containers they handle in 20-foot equivalent units (TEU). In 2007, containers handled by all ports world-wide (including empties, transshipments and port handling) totalled almost 500 million TEU.