Based on a unanimous agreement of heads of APA-member ports, three (3) of the scheduled regional fora were cancelled while the holding of the Main Meeting towards the end of the year has remained uncertain. This agreement, which was reached at the height of the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome or SARS crisis, was expected to reduce the possibility of spreading the virus through personal contacts.
The gatherings that were not pursued are the APA Conference and Exhibition, the 24th APA Working Committee Meeting and the 8th APA Sports Meet.
The APA Conference and Exhibition was originally scheduled in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam on May 21-22, 2003. It was billed “Logistics and Port Services in the Internet Era”. If pursued, it would have highlighted the important role of ports as logistics centers. It also intended to showcase e-Logistics technology and other IT solutions for transport and ports.
APA Working Committee Meetings are held to tackle and offer solutions to technical issues before these are elevated to the APA officers for decision. The 24th APA Working Committee Meeting was calendared on June 18-20, 2003 in Indonesia. If not cancelled, the meeting would have taken up the status of the following projects of the APA: Development of a Uniform Scheme of EDI Applications in Intermodal/Multimodal Transport System and Training of Users (submitted for funding of the European Commission); Introduction of EDI-Based Information System on Dangerous Goods in Selected ASEAN Ports; Human Resource Development; EDI Among ASEAN Ports; Exchange of Information on Port Development Projects; and, Best Practices Manual. Other matters which were expected to be discussed are existing activities of APA like the APA Webpage, the APA Newsletter, Privatization/Commercialization and the APA Dredging Pool. The same Working Committee Meeting could have also provided the venue for identifying new projects.
Besides providing fora for the pursuit of projects and resolution of issues of common interests and concerns, APA recognizes the need to undertake activities that serve to strengthen the bond of camaraderie among members. The annual staging of Sports Competition has traditionally offered the appropriate venue for APA officers to renew their ties and further their relationships. For the year 2003, such Sports Competition was planned on October 19-25, 2003 in Singapore. While this event is still a few months away, the possibility that it will not materialize due to inadequate preparations has become increasingly clear.
Without the Working Committee recommendations which would have resulted from its 24th Meeting, the scenario of the Main Committee taking place is still hazy at this point in time. The Heads of member ports may, however, still reach a common agreement to pave the way for normalization of APA activities with the successful concerted efforts of the ASEAN Members to contain SARS.
The proximity of the origin of SARS has not spared the ASEAN from being adversely affected by this virus in spite of stringent measures that member countries adopted to prevent its spread. What made some of the measures quite difficult to implement is the relative openness that now prevails in the environment as demarcation of borders started to disappear. While the regional economies have been scarred by the debilitating effects of this virus, the oneness that was demonstrated by the members in jointly formulating strategies has once again established the noble truth in the old saying that “in unity…there is strength.” In the slow but steady return to normalcy of life in ASEAN countries and APA members, it is expected that the lesson that was earned would be nurtured and the state of readiness sustained.
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