Registration open for 42nd AGM, Conference, and Exhibition of the Caribbean Shipping Association

The Caribbean Shipping Association is now inviting registration for its 42nd Annual General Meeting (AGM), Conference and Exhibition to be held in San Juan, Puerto Rico, October 15, 16 and 17, 2012.

The conference will be held at La Concha (Renaissance) hotel and is being hosted by the Puerto Rico Shipping Association (PRSA). President of the PRSA, Hernan Ayala, has indicated that plans are to make this event unforgettable. More than 220 participants from 20 countries, representing the leading companies in the regional shipping industry, are expected to attend.

CSA President Carlos Urriola will open the conference and the Hon Luis G. Fortuño, governor of Puerto Rico, has accepted the CSA's invitation to be the keynote speaker at the opening ceremony.

Immediately following the opening ceremony, the business of the 42nd Annual General Meeting will begin. The highlight of the annual general meeting will be the election of the new president and vice-president of the CSA. The incumbent president, having served the maximum three one-year terms allowed by the CSA constitution, will stand down and the CSA will have a new president for the first time since 2009 when Urriola was unanimously elected as the 15th president, at the 39th AGM in Suriname.

With the business of the 42nd AGM completed, participants will go into 'conference mode'. Topics selected for treatment at the Puerto Rico conference will address all the relevant issues and developments affecting maritime businesses in the Caribbean and Latin America. Presenters will speak on topics affecting the global economy, world and regional shipping.

Topics to be presented include:

• It's Still About The Cargo - The End-Users' Perspective
• The Jones Act - The Broader Implications
• Role of the Caribbean in Transshipment
• Fuel Economics - Impact of low sulphur regulations and implications
• Creating Wealth - It's all about national economies
• Creating Wealth - In troubled economic times
• Salvage Operations Operations and Tugboat Challenges
• Puerto Rico - Benefiting the Caribbean
• It's Still About the Economy - Caribbean and Latin America