International Maritime Conference (IMC), A Resilient Maritime Southeast Asia: Safe, Secure and Sustainable Ocean was held on 23 May 2023 during the Langkawi International Maritime & Aerospace Exhibition 2023 (LIMA’23). The IMC was hosted by the Ministry of Transport (MOT) and organised by Maritime Institute of Malaysia (MIMA) at the Mahsuri International Exhibition Centre (MIEC), Langkawi.
The Chairman of MIMA, Dato’ Mohamed Suffian Bin Awang delivered the Welcoming Remarks, before the conference being officiated by YB Loke Siew Fook, Minister of Transport (MOT) of Malaysia. The conference was attended by almost 200 delegates, worldwide.
The conference was divided into two sessions; The first session titled “Global Trade and Shipping Trends” and the second session titled Global Security in SEA Maritime. The first session’s moderator was Captain K. Subramaniam Karuppiah, President of International Association of Ports and Harbors (IAPH). The first speaker was Dr Scott Edwards, Senior Fellow, Centre for Global Security Challenges, University of Leeds, United Kingdom, featuring the second speaker, Prof. Zhang Renping, Director, College of International Collaboration, Dalian Maritime University, China. The last speaker for session 1 was Dr Eva Pejsova, Japan Chair, Centre for Security, Diplomacy and Strategy, Brussels School of Governance.
The session 2’s moderator was Datin Paduka Nur Ashikin Mohd Taib, Director General, Maritime Division Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Malaysia. The first speaker was Vice Admiral Pradeep Chauhan, Director-General of National Maritime Foundation (NMF), New Delhi, India. Meanwhile, the second speaker was Mr. Gregory Poling, Senior Fellow of Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), United States. The last speaker for the session was Prof. Dr Adam Leong Kok Wey, Director of Centre for Defence and International Strategic Studies (CDISS), National Defence University of Malaysia.
The IMC aimed to improve the understanding of the audience about the security and economy in the sea. Session 1 of the conference talked about the economy and transportation where international trade is critical for global economic recovery. It has become more critical in the COVID-19 pandemic. Autonomous shipping is the emerging trend in the maritime industry for a higher efficiency, better time managements and increased output. However, the evolution has not been smooth and post pandemic recovery is still ongoing. This session addresses the global maritime trade and the trend in shipping industry. It seeks to analyse how global players can be resilient towards the evolving maritime seascape and improve towards a positive global economic outlook.
The Session 2 were about the security where the Security of Sea Lines of Communication is critical to SEA’s economic growth and regional prosperity. However, little attention is given to the importance of preserving a safe and secured maritime highway for unimpeded trade. Geo-politic interest, political contest and overlapping goals of Indo-Pacific strategies has multifaceted implication resulting in slowdown in shipping and economy. The maritime transport, ports operation and options for alternatives navigation shows that a conflict has deep impact on the economy. The war between Russia and Ukraine is a case in point where keeping the supply chain has been challenging. Against this backdrop, this session analyses on the most pressing issues on security and its relationship with global economy.