U.S. Vice President Joe R. Biden, Jr. will deliver the keynote address on Wednesday , November 12, at the American Association of Port Authority’s (AAPA) 103rd Annual Convention and Expo in Houston, hosted by the Port of Houston Authority.
Vice President Biden is a strong proponent of America’s ports, as evidenced by recent visits to ports in Philadelphia, Norfolk, Savannah, Charleston, Granite City, Ill. (America’s Central Port), Baltimore, and, within the past year, Houston. During his return visit to Houston to address AAPA’s annual convention, he will discuss the need for continued infrastructure investments in ports.
Additionally, AAPA’s convention will feature speakers from major shipping lines such as Hapag-Lloyd and Maersk, as well as beneficial cargo owners from companies like International Paper and Dollar General.
Convention attendees will also be treated to a host of stimulating sessions on cutting-edge industry issues such as port productivity and energy projects. In one session, for example, industry experts will address strategic methods that ports are employing to increase efficiency and productivity at both container and non-container terminals. In another session, speakers from ConocoPhillips, ExxonMobil and Jefferson Energy Companies will discuss how new energy sources, along with demands for different types of energy, are creating cargo opportunities for ports, affecting fuel choices, and significantly altering the way ports do business.
During the convention’s November 12 luncheon, participants in the association’s Professional Port Management (PPM®) program will receive their graduation certificates, bringing to 100 the total number of graduates since the program began in 1995.
This will be the first class to graduate under new, more rigorous PPM® admittance and completion requirements implemented in 2010. The PPM® program was conceived as a way to further the association’s goals to enhance port management professionalism by assisting port authorities, maritime organization and agencies in hiring and promoting qualified professionals.
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