Prominence of the Port System facing the Slowing Down of International Trade” organized together with the Port Consortium in Bahía Blanca

The 5th Symposium of the ArgentinePort Council: “Prominence of the Port System facing the Slowing Down of International Trade” was held at the auditorium of the Bahía Blanca Grain Arbitration Chamber last Friday April 24th .

The opening ceremony was headed by the town Mayor, Cristian Breitenstein, accompanied by the Consortium Chairman, Jorge Otharan, and the Chairman of the Argentine Port Council, Mario Goicoechea. The Head of the local Town Council, Juan Pedro Tunessi, and representatives of other minor institutions and businesses attended as well.

The local Mayor emphasized that: “this is one of the most important ports of the country, with a 3.500 million dollar balance of foreign exchange, 550 million dollars in municipal, state and federal taxes and the production of eight Argentine provinces exported from this port”.

There was a mixed variety of subjects developed by the orators beginning with “New Information Technologies: Their Implementation in Port Management” developed by Guillermo Angeles, counsellor of the project Theoretical Development and Implementation of a Geographical Information System (GIS) for Management and Planning of a Port System, belonging to the Research Group on Ports and Coasts of the National Technological University of Bahía Blanca. Gustavo Anschütz, President of the International Association of Ports and Coasts Professionals (AIPPYC) lectured on “Port Marketing Strategies in a Crisis Context” and Gabriel Perrin, Manager of the firm Terminal de Servicios Portuarios Patagonia Norte S.A., lectured on “Development of the Container Terminal of the Port of Bahía Blanca”. The symposium ended with the presence of the distinguished journalist, political analyst and President of the Strategic Planning Institute, Jorge Juan Castro, lecturing on the subject “Argentina 2009 in the Regional and World Context”. It is worth mentioning that the contents of the lectures will be available in www.consejoportuario.com.ar.

Preceding the meeting, the authorities of the Argentine Port Council together with those of the Consortium visited the port facilities and the Puerto Belgrano Naval Base.