Minister of Transport Mr Sibusiso Ndebele has congratulated the newly-elected Secretary-General of the International Maritime Organisation Mr Koji Sekimizu of Japan.
Accompanied by Dr Zola Skweyiya, South Africa's High Commissioner to the United Kingdom, Mr Ndebele expressed the country's hearty congratulations during a meeting South Africa held with the Japanese delegation shortly after Mr Sekimizu's election in London yesterday, 28 June.
"We send our country's congratulations to the Japanese people and to Mr Koji Sekimizu on his election to this the highest leadership position in the IMO. This election is a vote of confidence in Japan as a maritime country and in the leadership skills of Mr Sekimizu.
"Mr Sekimizu's election, which will take effect in December after the IMO Assembly, also reflected the shift in the balance of power internationally away from West to the East. In particular, we see this as a historic election in that for the first time a Non-European/US country has taken over at theInternational Maritime Organisation (IMO) as Secretary-General.
"That Mr Sekimizu is from Japan presents an ideal opportunity for South Africa to engage Japan on matters of common interest in the maritime area such as ship-building, ship repair and maintenance and development of a solid maritime industry in South Africa and the continent.
"Japanese companies took part in the Department of Transport's International Investors' Conference in Cape Town from 13 to 14 June. Japanese companies are interested in collaborating with South Africa on maritime matters, but also in other transport-related areas," said Ndebele.
Mr Koji Sekimizu (58) was elected as Secretary-General of the International Maritime Organisation (IMO), with effect from 1 January 2012, for an initial term of four years.
The vote took place during the 106th session of the 40-Member strong IMO Council, which is meeting from 27 June to 1 July 2011 in London. The decision of the Council will be submitted to the IMO Assembly, which meets for its 27th session from 21 to 30 November 2011, for approval.
Mr Sekimizu is currently Director of IMO's Maritime Safety Division. Mr Sekimizu studied marine engineering and naval architecture and joined the Ministry of Transport of Japan in 1977, working initially as a ship inspector and moving on to senior positions in both maritime safety and environment-related positions within the ministry.
He began attending IMO meetings as part of the Japanese delegation in 1980 and joined the IMO Secretariat in 1989, initially as Technical Officer: Sub-Division for Technology, Maritime Safety Division. He became Head: Technology Section in 1992, then moving to become Senior Deputy Director: Marine Environment Division in 1997 and Director of that Division in 2000, before moving to his current position in 2004.
Congratulating the winner, current IMO Secretary-General Mr Efthimios E Mitropoulos said he looked forward to "working closely with Mr Sekimizu between now and the end of the year to introduce him to the current state of organisational affairs so that the transition of administration from me to him will be as smooth, harmonious and successful as possible."
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