The Permanent Secretariat of SELA and CAF-Development Bank of Latin America, through its CAF-LOGRA program, undertook in 2014 the “Programme for the Creation of the Latin American Network of Digital and Cooperative Ports – Strengthening logistic port communities, service standards and technology innovation for a globalized, logitistically competitive and sustainable foreign trade” (hereinafter, D&C Port Network Programme). The programme displays a new inter-institutional and technical cooperation scheme to strenghten public policies for the domestic port sector and enforce technical recommendations in individual port systems.
Since then, the Network of Ports has focused on building a reference model of institutional and technological innovation for logistic port communities, incorporating international best practices according to the specific realities of the participating countries. In this regard, institutional, operational and technological lines of action have been established to help close gaps in sustainability and logistics competitiveness.
The D&C Port Network comprises public, private and regional agencies, namely ministries of transportation, national institutes, established port communities, port authorities, maritime authorities, professional associations, universities and enterprises linked to the maritime and port sector.
Since May 2021, representatives of SELA and CAF-development bank of Latin America, as well as the Steering Committee of the Network, have held progressive meetings in order to outline the roadmap for the upcoming years, consolidate the internal operations, set strategic goals, and keep working on regional integration in transit to a new stage of the Network.
In this context, the General Assembly of the Steering Committee and Members of the Network of Digital and Collaborative Ports was held on 24 November 2021, where the progress and results of the aforementioned meetings were presented. Furthermore, the need to consider the aspect of its institutionalisation and formalisation was highlighted, in order to maintain the levels of recognition, legitimacy and cohesion of the programme.
The VI Meeting will be a space to reunite the parties to the maritime-port sector, which will exhibit their advances and experiences in terms of intermodality, digitalization, sustainability, and port security, and learn about the best practices in the city-port relationship. This event is organised by the Permanent Secretariat of SELA, with the institutional support of CAF-development bank of Latin America and the Panama Maritime Authority (AMP).