The European Sea Port Organisation (ESPO) held the 9th edition of its annual Conference in Sopot, the Polish seaside town located in between the ports of Gdansk and Gdynia, who were hosting the event. PortEconomics co-directors Peter de Langen, Theo Notteboom and Thanos Pallis, as well as PortEconomics associate members  Michael Dooms, Patrick Verhoeven, and Larissa van der Lught were there actively contributing to discussions around the theme of port financing and investment, the most important enabling factors behind port development.Port privitisation has again become a topical issue in Europe as the economic crisis is pushing some countries to sell off ports and other vital infrastructures. During a special roundtable discussion on port privatisation, PortEconomics co-directors Theo Notteboom and Thanos Pallis joined port authorities trade unions, terminal operators and conference delegates, and discussed whether this a trend that is here to stay and would full privatisation be in the interest of ports and the trade that they serve. Another higlight of the second day of ESPO 2012 was, the presentation of the results of the PPRISM (Port Performance Indicators - Selection and Measurement) project conducted by several partners of the PortEconomics initiative by Chris Wooldridge.The conference also devoted attention to the review of European ports policy that the European Commission recently announced. Other topics which were discussed included the financial capabilities of port authorities, public private partnerships, concessions and regional investment opportunities. Acting at his capacity as Secretary General of the ESPO, PortEconomics associate member Patrick Verhoeven presented the ESPO 'Port Manifesto' advocating a 'renaissance' of port management and policy. The manifesto addresses port authorities, governments and the European Union. It advocates first of all a change of management culture among port authorities, one that combines a dynamic business policy with good corporate governance and transparency, both within and beyond the port area. Secondly, it invites responsible governments to devise frameworks that guarantee independent port management, removing…

PortEconomics co-directors Theo Notteboom and Peter de Langen, members Vicky Kaselimi and Dries Verbraeken and the associate members Wouter Jacobs and Larissa Van Der Lugt particpated at the First Port Research Centre Poster Session organized by the Erasmus Smart Port Rotterdam in Rotterdam on March 6, 2012, and included the latest developments of on-going port research,Porteconomics members and associated that conduct doctoral research had the opportunity to present port reserch related to their research to an audience including several PhD-students and a selected group of senior port researchers in the Netherlands and Belgium. In particular, the program included a presentation by Vicky Kaselimi on her research on "A Game Theoretical Approach to the Interrelation between Terminal Scale and Port Competition", whereas Dries Verbraeken discussed his research on the "Exogenous Determinants of Land Productivity of Container Port Terminals". These studies are conducted under the supervision of Theo Notteboom, ITMMA & Faculty of Applied Economics of the University of Antwerp. PortEconomics associate member Larissa van der Lugt presented her research "Beyond the landlord: An analysis into the Strategic Scope of the Port Authority".Other themes discussed included "Gateway and Hinterland Dynamics" by Darren Fraser,"The Institution and Governance of Inland Waterway Transport" by Jinyu Li, "Location Analysis of Dry Ports Based on Fuzzy c-Means (FCM)" by Zheng Chang and "From the Terminal to the Metropolitan Region: Governing Logistics Development in the Greater Paris Region", Nicolas Raimbault.The Smart Port Rotterdam initiative aims to develop new ways of cooperation, and combine high academic quality with practical relevant, to deliver research, education and project research.In order to get an impression of the day you may visit the Youtube video of the event

PortEconomics co-director Thanos Pallis presented his views on the prospects and current initiatives to promote the competitivess of Greek ports, during the Financial Times World Shipping Congress that took place in Athens Greece, 19 & 20 February 2012.In front of a crowd that included presidents of shipowners' Associations representing 3 continents, 10 major Shipping Countries and almost 60% of the international fleet. Thanos, acting at his capacity as General Secretary of ports and port policy of the Hellenic Republic, presented his assessment of the major port issues and defined strategies to cope with the volatile environment in world economy and finance. Along with other institutional and industry representatives, Thanos discussed challenges and trends in Greek ports, focusing more on the institutional reform that is currently in progress in Greece:Thanos prosentation is available via PortEconomics : Greek Ports: Serving the Greek Economy

The PortEconomics team is happy to welcome you to the latest issue of our biannual PortNewsletter (Issue 4-January). Read in this issue reviews of the major news and upgrades of the PortEconomics initiative that took place in the second half of 2011, including exciting PortEconomics sponsored events marked by resound success, all the news of port studies published in the covered period and updates of the research activities of members and associated members of the PortEconomics team.  You might also find the announcement of the forthcoming PortExecutive Course, a 2-day course to be organised by PortEconomics in Marseilles France, June 28-29, 2012 and many more...Download and read the lates issue of the PortNewsletter @ PortEconomics:  PortNewsletter (No 4)