Egypt won a C-category membership in the Council of the International Maritime Organization (IMO) after getting 132 votes out of 165 in an election held in London on Friday. IMO is a UN organization whose council comprises 40 members elected by the assembly to serve for two years. According to IMO website, the member states are classified as follows: "Category (a) [includes] 10 States with the largest interest in providing international shipping services…Category (b) [includes] 10 States with the largest interest in international seaborne trade…Category (c) [includes] 20 States not elected under (a) or (b) above, which have special interests in maritime transport or navigation and whose election to the Council will ensure the representation of all major geographic areas of the world." Egypt is in category c, besides the Bahamas, Belgium, Chile, Cyprus, Denmark, Indonesia, Jamaica, Kenya, Kuwait, Malaysia, Malta, Mexico, Morocco, Peru, the Philippines, Singapore, South Africa, Thailand, and Turkey. Speaking at the 31st session of the IMO General Assembly on Friday, Egyptian Minister of Transport Kamel al-Wazir congratulated countries picked in category (a) and (b). al-Wazir – who is heading a door-knock mission to the UK – said Egypt is keen on executing the IMO activities and objectives, citing the great role played by the country in facilitating the movement of world trade between the East and the West. Egypt had drawn up a comprehensive strategy to develop ports and boost their competitiveness according to applicable international standards, he added. The strategy is meant to turn Egypt into a regional and international logistic hub to serve the intra-trade movement, in addition to providing services to keep pace with the modern global trends in the field of maritime transport and logistics, al-Wazir said. The minister added that Egypt had adopted an integrated maritime policy, aiming to enhance the maritime transport system efficiency, through rejuvenating all harbours and expanding the Egyptian merchant fleet. Egyptian government applied an electronic system to manage ports and took serious steps to activate the single-window system for simplifying measures and trade dealings at harbours, he said.
