General Assembly 2020

On July 4th, the RMSC organised its first live event in five months. The ING Bank invited us to hold the annual general assembly at their offices in Rotterdam. Of course the meeting was held in accordance with COVID-19 regulations. With 30 people attending, it felt great to see each other in person and discuss how COVID-19 affects the maritime industry. Positive effects, like improved vitality of co-workers and an increase in the acceptance of digital documents via email, and negative aspects, such as the downturn of office rentals or missing unstructured meetings, were discussed.

In 2020, 10 new members were welcomed, and the sectors RMSC represent are expanded with IT security and consultancy. Today, RMSC has 55 members and is financially viable.

The attendees stated that the RMSC managed to maintain its visibility and added value by organizing interesting and well attended webinars during the lock down. Being able to meet in person for the general assembly made it easier to discuss strategic issues and the way forward for the RMSC. The board presented the strategy for the coming years. Including three main goals, and the ambition to grow the membership base. The focus remains on knowledge development and sharing, international promotion of the Rotterdam maritime business services cluster, and creating networking opportunities remain the most important. The combination of knowledge sharing in an informal setting during events are appreciated by the RMSC members. This helps to strengthen  bonds between companies within the regional maritime cluster.