Guido PijperKVNR – RMSC event “Geo-economics”
The Royal Association of Netherlands Shipowners and the Rotterdam Maritime Services Community welcome you for a joint knowledge sharing event on Wednesday 23 November 2022 at the Kunsthal in Rotterdam.
We have the pleasure to invite you to a lecture by Prof. Dr. Rob de Wijk on the interpretation of geopolitical developments on the world stage.
Prof. Dr. Rob de Wijk is Professor of International Relations and Security at Leiden University and founder of the leading Hague Center for Strategic Studies. Chances are that you have already listened to his daily BNR podcast in collaboration with Mr. Arend Jan Boekestijn about the war in Ukraine.
The lecture starts at 16:30 and after that there is room for an interactive discussion in which we hope to provide the participants with even more insights that are relevant to maritime entrepreneurship.
After this, there is will be a networking opportunity between the shipowners and maritime business services while enjoying a walking dinner.
Programme
- 16:00 – Walk in RMSC members
- 16:25 – Welkom both organisations and introduction Rob de Wijk
- 16:30 – Key Note Speech Rob de Wijk
- 17:00 – Q&A with the audience
- 17:25 – Closing remarks
- 17:30 – Networking drinks and walking dinner
- 19:30 – End
Geo Economics
Entrepreneurs in the maritime sector are increasingly struggling with uncertainties due to developments on the world stage. The consequences are noticeable both in Dutch port areas and overseas on board ships and in shipyards. The geopolitical concerns are accompanied by 1. a European Commission that is ambitious in the field of the energy transition and (international) corporate social responsibility and 2. National hopelessness due to policy stagnation in the government. Moreover, COVID-19 has shown that each state does not look beyond its own national borders.
That there is almost always an impact on the maritime sector, that is a fact. And with entrepreneurship comes risks. But as a maritime entrepreneur in the Netherlands (or the EU), how should you interpret the seemingly increasingly complex developments worldwide? How do you deal with the rapid pace at which developments follow? And how can you anticipate developments? In short, how do you move as an international entrepreneur in a changing world?
Seagoing vessels sail at least 25 years. If you order a ship today, do you do so at a Chinese or a European shipyard? Which fuel/energy carrier do you choose with all climate regulations in mind? For which assignments is the ship used? Do you still want to be on a ship off the coast of Taiwan for 10 years in 2027?
In order to be able to answer these questions better than purely from a business economic perspective, it is becoming increasingly relevant that entrepreneurs are informed as well as possible by experts who can interpret geopolitical developments over the longer term (past, present and future). An increased level of knowledge among entrepreneurs can contribute to the responsible solutions to challenges they face.
The successes of the new maritime shipping policy since 1996 have now been worked out and the wider maritime business climate is now increasingly under pressure.
Where do we stand if, to stay in shipping terms, we recalibrate the ‘compass for a world in motion’ today and project it onto the interests of the maritime sector?
