The industry is coming together
With the world slowly putting covid-19 behind it, 150 MACN member representatives met in London in late April to catch up on the latest initiatives for fighting global maritime corruption.
Back in 2011 when MACN was launched, no one could have imagined the great achievements that are being seen today. A great example of the consistent and determined progress is Nigeria, where both public and private interests have been unified in the fight against maritime corruption.
The collaboration and results reached so far in Nigeria was also the topic for the first keynote session at the members’ meeting in London. According to Cecilia Müller Torbrand, CEO of MACN, the Nigerian case demonstrates how progress can be reached when mutual dialogue and sound collaboration between public and private representatives are established.
“Since MACN members represent the whole value chain of shipping we have the ability and flexibility to approach challenges from a wide number of perspectives. In this way our members are also our greatest assets to understand the challenges better,” Cecilia Müller Torbrand explains.
First in person meeting since 2019
Organizing a busy network without the ability to meet physically has a new challenge for Cecilia Müller Torbrand and the rest of the MACN team over the past two years. So instead of holding two physical meetings annually, MACN set up several online meetings and webinars during the coronavirus pandemic. In this way MACN was able to reach more employees in the membership but many member representatives were longing for the in-person connection.
“Online workshops will remain in order keep good momentum between the in-person meetings, Online workshops are useful to connect with people who may not have the possibility to travel but we will also continue to arrange in person member meetings as they represent the core values of MACN and its members. says Cecilia Müller Torbrand.
Visit MACN website for the complete list of all 171 members.
The value of having the industry coming together
The Spring Meeting was held at the St Pancras Renaissance Hotel in London and covered a mix of plenary sessions and workshops. On the first day, members had the opportunity to get inspired by the work that the Nigerian government has been implementing together with MACN local partner CBi and had the chance to hear in breakout sessions from MACN’s local partners who are supporting and implementing actions on the ground in Nigeria, Egypt, India, and Bangladesh. The sessions and discussions on the second day revolved around MACN’s capability building workshops as well as the different industry working groups. The membershp also heard from MACNs local partner calling in from Ukraine and had deep dive with compliance experts on the latest compliance trends and pitfalls in 2022.
Fabrizio Camerini, Vice President, Ethics & Compliance at Yara International, and one of the 150 participants at the meeting, found the agenda and content very well organized and valuable for the members.
“Anti-corruption should be a permanent drive irrespective of situation and circumstances, but the post-covid world and business aspirations for progress, profits and efficiency, demand enhanced work towards defendable compliance practices,”
Camerini Fabrizio says.
Another MACN member, Gitanjali Sakhuja, also found the meeting inspiring. Gitanjali Sakhuja is Head of Governance & Compliance at Svitzer.
“Indeed fantastic to meet in person and build on our commitments to tackle corruption in the industry,” she says.
The next global member meeting will take place 29-30 November in Dubai. We look forward to seeing our members and partners then!
