On 19 May, President Doumbia-Henry welcomed a delegation from the French Marine Academy led by the Academy President, Admiral Alain Coldefy. WMU says the visit provided the opportunity to familiarize the delegation with WMU, its mission and achievements as well as to exchange ideas on potential areas of collaboration.
Dr Doumbia-Henry highlighted WMU’s strong legacy of global leadership in maritime education, research, training and capacity building. “WMU is the only specialized postgraduate institution within the UN system that has in-house expertise in all areas of IMO engagement, including upcoming topics such as e-navigation that are expected to have a major impact on the maritime profession and maritime and ocean jobs of the future”, she said.
Admiral Alain Coldefy noted that the French Maritime Academy, as part of the French Ministry of Defense, provides expert advice to the French government in form of various reports and studies on matters related to the maritime policy. Similar to WMU, the Academy holds international conferences and seminars on relevant maritime and ocean related topics. It was proposed that WMU experts could potentially contribute to Academy events to promote the exchange of knowledge and ideas on industry trends and requirements.
Concluding the meeting, President Doumbia-Henry affirmed that WMU is pleased to engage with the French Maritime Academy, especially given WMU’s unique positioning at the nexus between policy, science, industry and regulatory frameworks, adding “WMU’s impact can be felt everywhere. With the new industry liaison programme and extended outreach we will be in even more direct contact with key industry players and academic partners to help create a level playing field based on IMO Conventions and other maritime regulatory instruments. We do this as part of our mandate to educate maritime leaders for future generations.”