As the Association celebrates its 70th Anniversary, the world ports community will gather in Kobe Japan, where the first ever meeting took place to establish a global ports organisation
The agenda has now been announced and registration opened for the IAPH 2025 World Ports Conference, which will take place at the Hotel Ōkura Kōbe (pictured) on the waterfront at the Port of Kobe between 7 and 9 October.
IAPH Managing Director Patrick Verhoeven commented : “when we speak about the 70th anniversary, it was indeed in 1955 that Japanese and U.S. ports gathered in the Hotel Roosevelt in Los Angeles to establish an international association of port authorities, inspired by the philosophy 'World Peace through World Trade, World Trade through World Ports'. However, the foundation was laid three years before, in Kobe, and that is where we are heading this year later in October. The theme 'Reinvention and Prosperity in Turbulent Times' connects with our founding spirit and will reveal ways in which innovative ports are capturing tangible, sustainable investment returns in a high-risk environment – strengthening both their security and their license to operate.”
The first two days of the conference will be dedicated to plenaries, breakouts and special interventions, all of which will provide insights for delegates to take home with them that can offer added value. This will include new, innovative approaches towards established port business models, revenue-generating strategies, efficiency improvements or the use of technology and partnerships to improve resilience against future shocks. With top level speakers already announced and with many more to come, delegates will also have the rare opportunity to interact with senior executives of the many Japanese ports and terminal operators attending in Kobe, alongside the Japanese Ministry for Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism.
The day after the prestigious IAPH 2025 Sustainability Awards Dinner taking place on the evening of 8 October, attendees will be able to see the port for themselves from both the shore and the sea. Plans include a technical overview and seaborne visit to the Kobe Liquefied Hydrogen Receiving Terminal Hy touch Kobe , and a comprehensive explanation of how the City of Kobe responded to the greatest crisis it ever faced, namely the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake of 1995, with a visit to the Disaster Recovery Center and a tour of the special memorial museum in the port.
A cultural visit is also planned in coordination with the host sponsor the City of Kobe, including the unique Sorakuen Japanese Garden and former residence of the Mayor of the City.
IAPH-Mercator Webinars organised in advance of #IAPH2025
In the run up to the conference, IAPH and media partner and #IAPH2025 organiser Mercator Media are organising a series of webinars available to everyone which touch on all the themes that will be discussed in Kobe at the conference. The next webinar, to be held on March 12, will look at the impact of geopolitical changes on ports, and what the new global landscape means for trade.
IAPH’s Communications Director Victor Shieh explained : “The beginning of the year has been marked by announcements of trade tariffs, the continued attacks on shipping in the Red Sea and the imminent threat of escalation of hostilities in several regions of the world. Everyone is asking themselves what this means for trade, and in particular, for world ports. We shall get the views from the United States of America and the ports being represented there in Washington. We shall also get a market intelligence perspective on trade lane activity in the container sector and I will be interviewing Captain Allan Gray (former CEO of the Port of Halifax) who has joined an organisation equipped with technological tools to support ports in evaluating and managing risk.”
About IAPH
Founded in 1955, the International Association of Ports and Harbors (IAPH) has developed into a global alliance of 191 port authorities as well as 165 port-related businesses. Comprised of over 80 different nationalities across the world’s continents, member ports handle over one third of the world’s sea-borne trade and well over 60% of the world container traffic. IAPH leads global port industry initiatives on decarbonisation and energy transition, risk and resilience management, and accelerating digitalisation in the maritime transport chain. The IAPH’s World Ports Sustainability Program has grown into the reference database of best practices of ports applying the UN Sustainable Development Goals and integrating them into their businesses - iaphworldports.org.
To discover the agenda and register for the IAPH2025 World Ports Conference : visit here
To register for the next IAPH -Mercator Media webinar : visit here