Brussels, Belgium
December 13, 2022

President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. talked with International Maritime Employers’ Council (IMEC) Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Francisco Gargiulo and several business executives and leaders of European shipping companies and shipowners association during a meeting in Brussels, Belgium.

The President assured Europe’s maritime officials and executives of the Philippine Government’s continuous efforts to address certification issues concerning Filipino seafarers to make them compliant with the Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping (STCW) Convention.

He reiterated the role of public-private partnership (PPP) in strengthening the maritime industry, as the private sector can be tapped for the seafarers’ training and skills development.

According to its website, IMEC is the only international employers’ organization dedicated to maritime industrial relations. IMEC operates from its offices in the Philippines and United Kingdom, and represents 250 shipping companies located across the globe.

Currently, it has an estimated 300,000 seafarers in employment and more than 12,000 shipping vessels registered from 60 different countries.

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