Shifting international trade patterns at America’s seaports – with mega-size vessels requiring higher capacity road and rail connections serving ports, along with deeper harbors, bigger cranes and sturdier berths – can bolster a region’s economy while straining its infrastructure. Because there’s no stopping these trade shifts, ports – and the communities they serve – must learn to adapt in order to bolster job growth, prevent traffic snarls and remain competitive.
To address these issues, executives representing Port Tampa Bay and the American Association of Port Authorities (AAPA) – the unified and recognized voice of America's seaports – will hold a media briefing on Thursday, Jan. 21 at 10:30 a.m. The briefing is part of the ninth annual Shifting International Trade Routes conference at Le Méridien Tampa Hotel, in Tampa, Fla., Jan. 21-22. Hosted by Port Tampa Bay, the program is sponsored by AAPA, in cooperation with the U.S. Maritime Administration (MARAD) and the Transportation Research Board (TRB).
Speakers will include Port Tampa Bay President and CEO Paul Anderson, together with Saint John (New Brunswick) Port Authority President and CEO Jim Quinn (who serves as AAPA’s 2015/16 Chairman of the Board) and AAPA President and CEO Kurt Nagle. They will discuss key issues affecting international trade, and important trends and variables like global trade demand and its effects on domestic exports. They will also discuss funding for critical transportation infrastructure, such as waterside and landside improvements that are necessary to keep ports, as well as local and regional economies, viable. All three presenters are highly seasoned maritime industry experts who will offer unique and complementary perspectives on dominant trade, transportation and infrastructure issues that affect nearly all Western Hemisphere seaports.
The 2016 Shifting International Trade Routes program began in Tampa in 2008 and is now one of AAPA’s best attended conferences. Speakers will address the international economic outlook and shifts in global trade; discuss infrastructure needs from the perspective of cargo owners, ocean carriers, ports, terminal operators, warehouse and distribution centers, and rail interests, and provide an update on the project to expand the Panama Canal.