Some 80 delegates including IAPH President Thomas Kornegay, Vice President Datin Paduka O.C. Phang and over 50 overseas guests from 16 countries received a warm welcome by Mr. Le Cong Minh, Director General, Saigon Port , representing the Vietnamese hosts, at the opening ceremony of the 8th IAPH Asia/Oceania Regional Meeting and Port Forum 2007, February 1, held at New World Hotel Saigon, in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.
Also addressing at the opening ceremony was Mr. Vuong Dinh Lam, President of Vietnam Maritime Administration (Vinamarine) , who delivered the keynote address on behalf of Vietnamese Minister of Transportation, stressing the important roles played by ports as the main nodes in the multi-modal transport network of the globalized economy. He highly appreciated the occasion as a good opportunity to discuss and tackle issues of common interest to ports in the region.
The afternoon session of 2 February was chaired by the region's Vice President, Datin Paduka O.C. Phang (Port Klang, Malaysia ) to discuss the region's in-house matters by the members attending, while the participants, both members and non-members, heard a number of stimulating presetnations at the "Port Forum". (From IAPH)
(June 21,2007)
