Malta Shortsea Promotion Centre

The first six
months of 2013 have been very hectic for the Malta Shortsea Promotion Centre
and the programme for the second half of the year promises to be as
involving.  Changes were made to the
statute of MSPC which is now officially registered as an NGO so that it can now
apply for EU funds particularly for educational purposes.  

Apart
from the monthly newsletter, the regular updating of the website and the
monthly board meeting, the MSPC was also involved in:

–     Meetings in Brussels and Paris which dealt with the workings of
the European Shortsea Network;

–     Meetings in Malta with MEUSAC on funding for educational courses
that MSPC intends to sponsor;

–     Discussions with prospective members to add more members to the
Center – where we have added four new members;

–     Participation in the European Maritime Day that saw MSPC
organize together with the European Commission (DG for Maritime Affairs and
Fisheries) and the Maltese Ministry for the Economy, Investment and Small
Business, and the Maltese Ministry for Tourism a seminar on the sustainable
coastal and maritime tourism in the wider context of blue growth.  This seminar was coordinated with the Swedish
Agency for Marine and Water Management Clean Shipping Index and the Region of
Västra Götaland.  It was a very well
attended seminar and highly participative.

–     Direct involvement in the ESN Project "ESN – The Way Forward"
dealing with the collation of data and other market information on shortsea
shipping on a Europe wide basis.  This
project forms part of the Marco Polo Project. 
Not only is MSPC participating actively in three different work
packages, but we have been also appointed as coordinators for the East Med
sector.

The next
six months have a number of defined objectives, namely:

1.   Completion of the ESN Project by November;

2.   Groundwork for the securing of funds from the EU for organising a
training seminar for Maltese participants at the Escola de Shortsea Shipping in
Barcelona;

3.   Meeting with respective entities – Transport Malta, Chamber of
Commerce, GRTU – to present the workings of MSPC;

4.   Finalizing internal study on the educational and training courses
in Malta related to transport and logistics.

The main
objective of MSPC remains that of being a source of information for EU matters
relating to shortsea shipping and thereby assisting in the development of
Malta's potential in shortsea shipping.

For
further details and membership, one can contact the Malta Shortsea Promotion Centre
on