BVIPA senior management officials had a series of meetings with relevant stakeholders from October 18 to 22 as a part of its extensive planned programme for the final quarter of this year.

The team including the BVIPA’s Director of Finance and the Director of Operations met with industry stakeholders across several different sectors including ship agents and importers.

Besides strengthening the partnership, other goals of the meeting were to share updates on the work of the Ports, openly discuss issues, and promote dialogue on the current and future plans and programmes of the BVIPA in its goal to stimulate the economy of the territory.

The specific matters discussed included cargo efficiency, upgrading of the port infrastructure, and security.

The stakeholders had a general agreement on the issues they faced and expressed a commitment to work in partnership with the BVIPA to achieve the shared goal of economic revival and also get business back to its pre-COVID-19 capacity in a safe and secure environment during the ongoing pandemic.

Important to collaborate

In highlighting the importance of the collaboration between the Ports Authority and the relevant industry stakeholders, the Managing Director of BVIPA Oleanvine Maynard said each person in the partnership plays a key role on the path to recovery.

“The stakeholders have been invaluable to the key accomplishments of the Ports over the past few months. I am heartened by their willingness to engage us; pushing us to improve on our operations in several different areas because they know that our success is critical to their success. I am, therefore, encouraged by these sessions and I am committed to building on that collaboration going forward,” Maynard said.

Director of Finance, Claude Kettle, noted the importance of having constant dialogue with stakeholders as they are key pillars in the economic revival of the BVI.

“It is important to touch base with our stakeholders often because they are critical to the supply chain and economic engine of our Islands. Ours is a partnership that realises significant outputs, which are helping to shape Port operations for greater efficiency and port development. As such, we look forward to strengthening that partnership so that we can effectively confront the various challenges of this period,” Kettle said.

This new outreach programme is a new initiative by the Ports Authority that will continue next year.