Inter-American Committee on Port (CIP)

The OAS Inter-American Committee on Ports (CIP) is the only permanent Inter-American government forum that brings together the National Port Authorities of all OAS Member States for the promotion of the development of competitive, safe, sustainable, and inclusive ports in the Americas with the active participation of the private sector. Member States have selected six priority areas in port management where several challenges have been identified:
1. Port Protection and Security
2. Logistics, Innovation and Competitiveness
3. Sustainable Port Management and Environmental Protection
4. Public Policy, Legislation and Regulation
5. Corporate Social Responsibility, Gender Equality and Empowerment of Women
6. Tourism, Inland Ports and Waterways, Ship Services and Navigation Safety
The CIP and its Secretariat work on these areas according to the Plan of Action of Montevideo 2016-2018 (CIDI/CIP/doc. 6/16 rev.3) and through four main strategies: 1) strengthening and promotion of Inter-American port dialogue; 2) training of human capital and institutional capacity building; 3) Technical Assistance and port project development and implementation; and, 4) cooperation with the private sector.
Members of the CIP Executive Board (CECIP) have stated that the CIP is “key to the economy of any country as ports are the strongest link in the maritime trade logistic chain, so the relevance of being competitive, secure, efficient and sustainable is clear.” The CIP will hold its XI Regular Meeting in Mexico in 2018 where new objectives, needs, and challenges will be discussed and where the next Plan of Action of Mexico 2018-2020 shall be approved considering issues like the modernization necessary for ports to improve connectivity, reduce costs and automatize processes.
The CIP Secretariat is responsible for assisting Member States in their development efforts, for serving as Technical Secretariat for political meetings, for consolidating and expanding the training and capacity building offer and for promoting project implementation and public-private partnerships.


ACTIVITIES:
According to the Plan of Action of Montevideo 2016-2018 (CIDI/CIP/doc. 6/16 rev.3) The CIP will undertake the following activities:
• XI Ordinary Meeting of the CIP-August 2018 (Mexico)
• Annual Meetings of the Executive Board (CECIP) July 2017 (Barbados) and 2018 (Mexico)
• Biannual virtual meetings of the CECIP and the Technical Advisory Groups on the 6 priority areas of the CIP
• High level Hemispheric Seminars on the 6 priority areas of the CIP:
? II Conferencia Hemisférica sobre Puertos Interiores, Hidrovías y Dragado: El Transporte Fluvial como Motor de la Competitividad, Mayo 17 – 19, 2017, Buenos Aires, Argentina
? XI Foro y Feria Internacional sobre Protección Marítima y Portuaria, Agosto 2-4, 2017, Punta Cana, Republica Dominicana
? III Conferencia Hemisférica sobre Logística, Innovación y Competitividad, Octubre 4-6, 2017, Ciudad de Panama, Panama
? IV Conferencia Hemisférica sobre Gestión Portuaria Sostenible y Protección Ambiental, Octubre 18-20, 2017, México
? II Conferencia Hemisférica sobre Políticas Públicas, Legislación y Regulación, Noviembre 6 (por confirmar), 2017, Montevideo, Uruguay
? II Conferencia Hemisférica sobre Responsabilidad Social Empresarial y Equidad de Género, Mayo 2018, Lima, Perú
• 145 Scholarships granted to port officials through the CIP bilateral, triangular, and hemispheric cooperation and high level technical assistance initiatives on 6 priority areas of the CIP.
• 2 editions of the Annual Maritime Award of the Americas conducted
• Dissemination and promotion materials of Ports of the Americas undertaken
WEBSITE: portalcip.org
BENEFICIARIES: 34 National Port Authorizes of the OAS Member States
PARTNERSHIPS AND FINANCING: National Port Authorities of the Member States, IMO, IRU, Puertos del Estado de España, Fundación Valenciaport, Fundación SOGET-Le Havre, United States Coast Guard, ECLAC, AAPA, IADC, NAMEPA, Hudson Analytix, Rightship, ASA, CICTE, CIM, University of Miami, Instituto Tecnológico de Monterrey, Puerto Ensenada, Puerto Lazaro Cárdenas, Puerto Altamira, among others

INTER-AMERICAN COMMITTEE ON PORTS (CIP)

The Secretariat of the Inter-American Committee on Ports (CIP) has supported mandate No. 2 of the VI Summit of the Americas (1) and is currently implementing the 2012-2013 Lima Action Plan “Ports of the Americas: Strengthening Physical Integration and Hemispheric Cooperation for Prosperity”, based on the theme of the VI Summit on integration of physical infrastructure.

In this context, the Third Hemispheric Conference on Environmental Port Management, held on May 22-24, 2012 in Montevideo, Uruguay, emphasized the exchange of experiences among high governmental level and private sector by seeking solutions for environmental protection, security and efficiency to protect fluvial – maritime, coastal and port environments. The conference was attended by 98 representatives from Argentina, Brazil, Ecuador, Guatemala, Mexico, Uruguay, the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela and Spain as permanent observer to the OAS.

From May 2012 – May 2013, the CIP has strengthened capacities for 341 officials and executives of the port industry in the Americas in the Dominican Republic, Uru guay, Peru, Spain and France. In addition, 47 scholarships were granted thank to strategic partners such as State Ports of Spain, Valencia port Foundation, Port of Le Havre and the International Maritime Organization (IMO).


(1) Note: Mandate No. 2 of the VI Summit of the Americas: “2. To promote the exchange of experiences and the participation of the public and private sectors, taking into account current and future national, subregional, and regional physical infrastructure programs and projects that connect and integrate the Americas, which should, in accordance with our respective needs and full respect for our domestic laws, contribute to the development of synergies of national physical infrastructure agendas.”

Initiative:
Connecting the Americas 2022

Description:
Connecting the Americas 2022 is a regional initiative that seeks to create a business environment to accelerate the development of renewable energy, attract private investments, and bring the best in energy technology to the market with the aim of delivering affordable electricity to all communities in the Americas by 2022. This initiative, which is being led by Colombia and the United States, was launched at the Sixth Summit of the Americas in April 2012. Five months later, the region’s foreign ministers met in New York to further discussions on the strengthening of regulatory frameworks and electrical interconnections to achieve access to electricity for all citizens within a decade and improve the quality of life of the peoples of the Americas.

Activities:
• Support for projects of smart grid technology in Latin America.
• Technical assistance to support the development of commercially sustainable energy exchanges between regions of Central America, Mexico and Colombia.
• Studies of electrical inter-connectivity between Puerto Rico and U.S. Virgin Islands and St. Kitts and Nevis.
• Ministerial dialogue with countries in the Caribbean, donor governments and regional institutions to discuss possible electrical connections via underwater cables and development of renewable energy.
• Improvement of electricity trade between the US and Canada through the consultative energy mechanism.

Partnerships:
Inter-American Development Bank (IDB)
World Bank