London, United Kingdom- The Republic of the Philippines, in its unwavering commitment to support the Integrated Technical Cooperation Programme (ITCP) of the International Maritime Organization (IMO), has contributed USD 30,000 through a formal Letter of Agreement between the IMO and the Philippines. Philippine Ambassador to the United Kingdom, His Excellency Teodoro L. Locsin Jr. as the Permanent Representative of the Philippines to the IMO, presented the donation to Secretary-General Kitack Lim.
Atty Jean Ver P. Pia, Maritime Attache and Member of the Philippine delegation officially announced this contribution during the margins of the 73rd Session of the IMO Technical Cooperation Committee (TC73) held at the IMO Headquarters in London from 16 to 19 October 2023 where she underscored the role of the Philippines in ensuring the sustainability of the IMO’s technical cooperation programs.
Pia further said that the “contribution will be utilized to fund capacity-development activities relating to maritime safety, maritime security, particularly maritime casualty investigations or anti-piracy workshops and prevention and control of marine pollution for suitable technical personnel of the Philippines and other interested IMO Member States.”
As a beneficiary to a number of ongoing technical cooperation programs, the Philippines conveyed its appreciation to the Government of the Republic of Korea for its upcoming SMART SEA Project and the inclusion of Filipino cadets in the Global On-Board Training Program of Young Seafarers. The Philippines likewise acknowledged the efforts of the Government of the People’s Republic of China for developing a draft Training Manual on Domestic Ferry Safety; the IMO Secretariat and the World Maritime University (WMU) for their collaboration to come up with innovative learning systems such as e-learning courses and to the International Association of Maritime Universities (IAMU) for its peer-assisted evaluation schemes, now considered as alternative modalities for capacity building.
The Philippines likewise assured the IMO that it will continue to host the Regional Presence Scheme in East Asia and its IMO Regional Coordinator, Atty Josephine Marie Uranza for the implementation of the IMO Technical assistance needs of the Region.
In relation to the recent completion of the IMO Member State Audit Scheme (IMSAS) from 02 to 09 October 2023, the Philippines will explore opportunities for targeted capacity building to close up the gaps identified through the ITCP where the IMO is expected to develop an integrated, holistic and comprehensive ITCP for 2024-2025 based on the Consolidated Audit Summary Reports (CASRs).