It is a great pleasure to greet all those gathered for the inauguration of this wonderful new facility for the World Maritime University.
The importance of the seas and oceans in our lives is sometimes overlooked by people outside the maritime community, yet water supports global society in so many different ways. The world’s oceans provide raw materials, energy, food and employment. The serve as a carbon sink, a place to live and a place to relax. They also offer the means to transport about 90 per cent of global trade.
As the United Nations international regulatory body for shipping, the International Maritime Organization is the focal point for efforts to ensure that the industry becomes safer, more secure, more efficient, greener and cleaner.
The IMO founded this academic institution more than 30 years ago to help produce a stream of qualified people dedicated to these objectives. Since then, the University has consistently served IMO and the wider community with distinction, through education, research and capacity building. Developing countries, in particular, have benefitted, enabling them to increase the level and quality of their participation in maritime activities and international trade.
With the inauguration of a state-of-the-art campus, we see that the University is flourishing and making an important imprint on the work of the United Nations.
I congratulate all those who have been instrumental in bringing this ambitious project to fruition, including the member states, private donors and other supporters who have provided the resources to make it possible. The Government of Sweden and the City of Malmo deserve special mention.
Let me wish the faculty and all the students – present and future – success and fulfilment in these new facilities, which will enable the World Maritime University to make an even stronger contribution in the years ahead to the welfare of society, the protection, preservation and wise management of the oceans and for the achievement of the emerging post-2015 development agenda.