More than a thousand people from some 50 nations are in Houston, this week, for the 25th World Ports Conference, sponsored by the International Association of Ports and Harbors. As VOA's Greg Flakus reports from Houston, conference participants are discussing ways of meeting the challenge of an unprecedented increase in world trade that puts a strain on ports.
The expansion of commerce, worldwide, relies on a shipping industry to move commodities and products from port to port. But keeping up with demand for ships and harbor facilities can be a daunting task. Just consider this fact presented in one of the World Ports Conference panels: The World Bank predicted that, between 2000 and 2010, the world economy would grow 33 percent - from $30 trillion-a -year to $40 trillion. But the world economy surged past $41 trillion-a-year in 2004.
Such explosive growth places a large burden on those who are responsible for maintaining, operating and expanding ports, worldwide. One of them is Thomas Kornegay, executive director of the Port of Houston and president of the IAPH. He says this conference has allowed him to compare notes on the world trade outlook with his counterparts from around the globe.
Thomas Kornegay
"We do talk about the increase in trade and how it is happening and what their estimates are and what our estimates are, so that we can all try to get a handle on what is really going to happen," he said. "Because we are all guessing, right? Nobody knows the future, we just try to predict what it might be."
Kornegay says protecting ports and shipments from terrorists and criminals has been costly, but that ports have managed to improve security without impeding the flow of commerce. He says a bigger challenge is expanding facilities to meet demand -- especially here in the United States, where regulations and government approval processes slow down development.
"I was talking with the port director from Shanghai last night and, in four years, he built seven docks," said Kornegay. "In seven years, I built two docks. That kind of explains it all, doesn't it?"
But increasing port capacity is not just a concern here in the United States. Many nations are struggling to keep up with the ever-growing need for more port facilities.
Nosipho Damasane
"We are all facing a shortage of capacity," said Nosipho Damasane, an official with South Africa's port operations. "In fact, when we look at the statistics, in terms of by 2011, the capacity that we need in the ports, as well as the demand, is the same, which is a problem because, if there is any delay in developing port capacity worldwide, there will be a problem in terms of moving cargo across the countries."
In addition to the formal speeches and panels at the World Ports Conference, there is an exhibit hall where various companies promote their services and many countries promote their ports. One of the largest exhibits is that of South Korea, which has more than 20 representatives of its various ports here.
Jin-Sun Shin
"We came here to promote the port of Pusan, as well as other ports of Korea, to participants," said Jin-Sun Shin, who represents the port of Pusan. "Yesterday, the final approval of the 2011 IAPH conference hosting city was decided as Pusan, in 2011, so it was really a great celebration for us."
The World Ports Conference is held every two years and is sponsored by the IAPH, which was founded in 1955 as a forum for discussion and cooperation for the international maritime industry. Houston, which now boasts the world's 10th largest port, last hosted the conference 30 years ago. This conference, which includes representatives from 400 ports, as well as some top executives from companies related to port operations and maritime trade, continues until Friday.
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这个星期，来自50来个国家的一千多人聚集在美国德克萨斯州的休斯顿，参加国际港埠协会主办的第25届世界港口大会。在这次大会上，与会者讨论了如何应对世界贸易史无前例的增长导致港口吃紧这个许多国家都面临的挑战。
全球范围商业的扩张仰赖于航运业把货物和产品从一个港口运送到另一个港口。但是要赶上贸易的扩张对船只和港口设施的需求则是一个艰巨的任务。世界港口大会的一个小组提出这样一个事实：世界银行曾经预测，在2000到2010年期间，世界经济将会增长百分之33，从每年的30万亿美元增加到40万亿美元。但是世界经济在2004年的总产值就超过了41万亿美元。
这种爆炸性的增长给世界各地那些负责维修、经营和扩大港口的人带来了很大的负担。休斯顿港口的执行主任、世界港埠协会的主席托马斯.利恩盖就是其中之一。他说，这个大会使得他有机会与来自世界各地的同行就世界贸易前景交换意见。
他说：“我们的确谈论了贸易的增加以及它正在增加的情况，还有他们的估计是什么以及我们的预测是什么。这样我们都可以试图对真正将要发生的事情有一个比较好的了解。因为我们都是在猜测，对吧？没有人知道今后会是什么样。我们只是试图预计今后可能是什么样的情形。”
利恩盖说，保护港口和航运不受恐怖分子和犯罪分子的干扰给他们带来了沉重的代价，但是港口还是改善了安全而没有阻碍商贸的流通。他说，更大的一个挑战是如何扩大港口设施来满足需求，特别是在美国，这里的监管和政府审批程序使设施的发展缓慢下来。
他说：“昨天晚上我跟上海港务局局长谈了谈。他在四年的时间里建造了7个码头。我在7年的时间里建了两个码头。这很说明问题，对不对？”
不过，增加港口的吞吐量并不只是美国的一个关注。很多国家都在挣扎着赶上对港口设施不断增加的需求。诺西坡.达马萨内是南非管理港口事务的一个官员。
他说：“我们都面临设施短缺的问题。事实上，当我们看数据的时候，到2011年，我们所需要的港口以及对它的需求是一样的，这就是一个问题，因为，如果全球范围内在发展港口运输能力方面出现延迟，在把货物从一个国家运到另一个国家的时候就会有问题。”
在世界港口大会上，除了正式的演讲和小组讨论外，大会还设立了一个展览厅。各个公司在这里展示他们的服务，很多国家也在这里推销他们的港口。最大的一个展览是韩国的，不同港口的20多个代表都在这里。
辛镇善(Jin-Sun Shin)是韩国釜山港的代表。他说：“我们到这里来是为了向与会者推销釜山港以及韩国的其他港口。昨天，国际港埠协会2011年的主办城市最后确定在釜山举行。所以，对于我们来说这是一个很好的庆祝。”
世界港口大会每两年举行一次，由国际港埠协会主办。这个组织是在1955年成立的，是国际海事行业进行讨论和合作的论坛。宣称是世界第10大港口的休斯顿上次主办这个大会是在30年前。这个大会吸引了400个港口的代表以及一些与港口运作和海上贸易有关的公司高级主管。
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