Today, the historical port headquarters of Palazzo San Giorgio provided the backdrop to the signing of the International Sister Seaports Agreement between the President of the Western Ligurian Sea Port Authority, Paolo Emilio Signorini, and the Mayor of Miami-Dade County, Daniella Levine Cava, a partnership which will further strengthen port ties.
Cruising and tourism, port sustainability, safety and security, are the main areas of cooperation sealed under the agreement, with the proposal to create technical groups working in synergy to exchange information and educational visits towards the promotion of traffic and activities of both the Italian and the US East Coast port.
The agreement, also undersigned by the Mayor of Genoa Marco Bucci, the President of the Liguria Region Giovanni Toti, the Chairman of the Miami-Dade Board of County Commissioners Jose "Pepe" Diaz and the Port of Miami CEO Juan Kuryla, recommends the establishment of future development programmes to foster cruise passenger traffic, highlighted as a core business for both ports, and marine and yachting services, in compliance with recent port sustainability guidelines. Under the cooperation pact, the Ports of Genoa and Port Miami mutually commit to promoting the relationship and advantages of doing business at the Sister Seaports.
"The collaboration forged with the Port of Miami is dedicated above all to an exchange of best practices pertaining to sustainability, cruise tourism and marine services. Our ports have various defining features in common and have already invested heavily in cold ironing, whilst other projects are underway to minimise the environmental impact of the passenger ships docked in our port-cities," explains President Signorini. "Furthermore we shall explore further the economic opportunities and the challenges posed by digital data exchange and cyber-security. Our aim is to consolidate Genoa and Miami's role as two landmark ports."
"I am proud to have been invited to "Witness" the signing of the sister port agreement between the Western Ligurian Sea Port Authority and the Port of Miami-Dade", comments the President of the Liguria Region Giovanni Toti. "This protocol brings Italy's leading port and Miami, the leading cruise port of the USA, closer together. The partnership points towards forms of collaboration dedicated to an exchange of best practices and know-how and the promotion of cruise and trade relations between the two gateway ports. It is also important to note that both Miami and Genoa host a long-established highly successful annual International Boat Show: our mission is to expand future participation in the events and we are confident that this agreement will be decisive in achieving this objective."
Mayor Marco Bucci declared: "The cooperation agreement between the Ports of Miami and Genoa not only provides us with the opportunity to exchange industry know-how and help revitalise our local shipping communities, but it will also act as an important stimulus for the city of Genoa. We shall try to capitalise upon the best practices which this leading US city-port can offer as an example. Miami and Genoa have much in common in terms of cruise tourism, trade and as host to major international boat shows. Today we embark upon a roadmap which highlights the Ligurian capital's appeal on the other side of the ocean: this makes us proud of who we are and what we have achieved as local authorities to strengthen further our leading role."
The US and Ligurian delegations will have the opportunity to discuss the progress made by the joint programme implemented across the new collaboration during the Miami-based bi-annual Sister Seaports Convention and the Seatrade Cruise Global Convention, the premier cruise industry event which is scheduled to take place on site in the forthcoming spring 2022, following a pause during the pandemic.
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