Speech International Port Training Conference 2007 (IPTC)
Corien Wortmann-Kool, Member of the European Parliament
June 4th
Rotterdam
Globalization and the Port Industry
Balancing the supply and demand of human resources
Ladies and gentlemen,
Thank you for giving me the opportunity to speak to you today at your International Port Training Conference. It is quite impressive to see that a conference which was held for the first time in 1970 is still being held 37 years and 18 conferences later. In the past years, the International Port Training Conference has proven to be a successful forum for in depth exchange of knowledge and experience. The conferences´ topics are all corncerned with training and learning, but through its professional approach, the conferences themselves can be considered as considerable learning opportunities as well. I am glad for the opportunity to discuss these issues with you today.
I would first like to underline some recent developments with regard to the maritime and port industry at both the European and the global level. Furthermore, I would like to elaborate on the impact of globalization on Europe, its port industry, and the need for skills. Finally I would like to make some remarks with regard how to deal with these developments and I will highlight some important policy directions from a European perspective.
1. Globalisation, port industry and the need for skills
In the year 2000, the European Union agreed on the Lisbon Strategy. A strategy to make Europe the most competitive and most dynamic knowledge based economy in the world. In the Lisbon Strategy there is considerable attention for education, training, and research and development. This is vital to equip both students and the workforce and to boost innovation.
Seven years after Lisbon, the European economy is growing at a considerable rate. And elsewhere economies are growing at even more remarkable rates, for example China, with their double...