Connecting Shores – Towards More Sustainable Corridors, Ports and Maritime Routes

This gathering was part of the momentum generated by the General Assembly of the Practitioners’ Network, held in Marseille on May 14. On that occasion, Carla Montesi, Director at the Directorate-General for International Partnerships of the European Commission, highlighted the key role of international technical cooperation—embodied by European implementing agencies—in the economic integration and sustainable development of partner countries. She emphasized the Team Europe approach as a model to support high-impact maritime corridors.

Jérémie Pellet, CEO of Expertise France, stressed the importance of supporting partner countries in the co-construction of development policies. He insisted on respecting international commitments, in particular those set out in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Paris Climate Agreement, which guide Expertise France's action in terms of international cooperation and ecological transition.

The event brought together a large number of participants from the European Commission, Member States, European development representatives and international partners, as well as key actors from the private sector and civil society. The meeting encouraged collective exchanges between European stakeholders and international partners, enabling them to work together to identify priorities and solutions for developing strategic, sustainable and secure transport corridors.

The day was marked by discussions between Christophe Castaner, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of the Port of Marseille Fos, and Christophe Madrolle, Chairman of the Biodiversity, Sea and Coastline, Regional Nature Parks and Risks Commission of the Southern Region. Both highlighted the transformation capacity of the Port of Marseille Fos, which has become a recognised international hub thanks to modernised infrastructures and projects focused on green logistics, energy, digital technology and passenger transport.

Mathieu Bousquet, Director of Policy and Financial Instrument Coordination at the European Commission's DG NEAR, stressed the desire to make these corridors tools for facilitating international trade, mobility and connectivity, while security issues were also on the agenda. The challenge of securing these port hubs and the routes taken by ships were particularly illustrated by John Llano, Director of Security at the Port of Guayaquil in Ecuador, on innovations in automated control. Florentine Koidio, President of the Réseau professionnel des femmes maritimes et portuaires and Head of the Customer Relations and Information Systems Department at the Port of Abidjan, focused on regional integration through more efficient infrastructures.