Ministers in charge of shipping and maritime from the East and Central African region are this week expected to adopt a common strategy to address challenges facing the sector at a meeting in Livingstone, Zambia.

Under the umbrella of the Intergovernmental Standing Committee on Shipping (ISCOS), the ministers from Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and the Democratic Republic of Congo expect to come up with a common regional joint approach to drive the growth of the blue economy within the region.

Kenya’s Cabinet Secretary for Mining, Blue Economy and Maritime Affairs, Salim Mvurya and Principal Secretary, State Department for Shipping and Maritime Affairs, Shadrack Mwadime are representing the country at the high-level Assembly.

“It has been observed that sustainably containing the emerging industry challenges calls for a closer open and mutual cooperation and collaboration amongst key national and regional stakeholders of the shipping and maritime industry”, ISCOS Secretary General Daniel Kiange noted.

“It was therefore vital for the organization to create a platform where “national technocrats and policymakers would dialogue, propose, harmonize positions, identify common opportunities and challenges and propose measures in a collaborative environment to address them with a regional perspective”.

Technocrats and experts in the shipping and maritime industry from the five countries have been holding a pre-ISCOS Assembly of Ministers forum since Monday this week.

They are expected to come up with a draft road map to guide the development of the blue economy in the region, which will be presented to the Ministers on Friday for adoption.

“We believe that this pre-ISCOS Assembly of Ministers consultative forum of Technical officers will form a solid platform at which regional shipping and maritime industry issues are diagnosed and clear prepositions formed and addressed to policymakers for policy direction,” PS Mwadime remarked.