PEMA welcomes global port industry to Antwerp for a valuable Autumn Meeting with continued 20th anniversary celebrations
The PEMA association presented a meeting of invaluable updates and discussion revolving around the future of the port manufacturing industry, a captivating port tour and insights from insightful guest speakers.
On October 8th and 9th 2024, the PEMA board of executives, members, guest speakers and delegates were welcomed to Antwerp, Belgium for the PEMA Autumn Meeting 2024. Over 125 PEMA members from all over the world gathered in Antwerp to attend the meeting at Hilton Antwerp Old Town.
PEMA President Achim Dries was honoured to welcome each representative to Antwerp to network, participate in panel discussions and technical committee meetings. The 2-day meeting included a full schedule including intensive discussion, industry insight from guest speakers and a very informative port tour and presentation at DP World Antwerp Gateway. This was an excellent opportunity for PEMA members and associates to mingle at one of the world’s major seaports, which is the second largest in Europe, in the beautiful historic city centre of Antwerp.
Monday evening kicked off with a meet-up opportunity at the welcome drinks reception in Café Den Engel. Tuesday morning saw members off to an early start at a port tour of DP World Antwerp Gateway led by Chief Operations Officer Tom Mortelmans. Arriving back to Hilton Antwerp Old Town, members enjoyed a light networking lunch before an afternoon of all-new technical committee workshops. The new format of workshops was moderated by PEMA’s Head of Technology, Pat O’Leary and led by the chairs and vice chairs of PEMA’s four technical committees. Over the course of the afternoon, participants provided insights and had in-depth discussions on technical issues relating to the sector and on the white papers topics under development and planned. Invited speaker Daniel Beck also gave a fascinating presentation on AI in ports and terminals.
PEMA President Achim Dries opened day 2 of the Autumn Meeting, reflecting on the 20th anniversary celebrations in Kerry, Ireland as well giving a short overview of the association’s recent activities and future plans.
“A welcome to the PEMA Autumn 2024 in Antwerp, a very special event as we continue to celebrate our 20th year anniversary. Yet another great place for sharing experiences, discussing new challenges, and setting ambitious industry goals. With so many of our speakers highlighting the importance of building relationships as an important element in overcoming these challenges. With growing PEMA members, we continue to have unique opportunities to grow our professional connections as well as our personal friendships that will assist us to meet these challenges, sustain and grow our industry. I would like to personally thank each and everyone of you for being part of PEMA’s incredible journey and look forward to welcoming you to PEMA’s 2025 events in Gdańsk & Kuala Lumpur in 2025.”
Guest speaker Ammar Kanaan, CEO of TiL Group said: “Producing sustainable solutions, we need relationships with suppliers where there is a true partnership, where we and you have a stake in the game. Meet the goals, more investment in capacity as the lead time is just too long, working together to maintain fluidity in the industry and to get the right balance between labour and automation.”
Jean O’Connell from PEMA’s marketing and administration team presented a detailed and impressive update of PEMA’s marketing activities and events. With an overview of the highest growth year of year in traffic but more importantly interaction with all of PEMA platforms. The future is bright with so many new members as well as the highest attendance at this year’s events. PEMA’s 2025 events were also announced to members; the Annual General Meeting will take place in Gdańsk, Poland on 1st & 2nd April while Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia will be the destination for the Autumn Meeting on 18th & 19th November.
An update on the technical activities of PEMA over the past year was presented by Pat O’Leary including the launch of the 2024 Ottonel Popesco Student Challenge, the progress of white papers and engagement with various events and associations.
PEMA was delighted to welcome guest speakers from the port industry who imparted their knowledge and insights with members. The line-up of speakers included Rob Smeets (COO of Port of Antwerp-Bruges), Ammar Kanaan (CEO of TiL Group), Yves De Larivière (CEO of Antwerp Euroterminal), Lamia Kerdjoudj (Secretary General of FELPORT), Inge De Wolf (PIONEERS Project Coordinator at Port of Antwerp-Bruges), Wijnand Visser (Technical Manager of MPET) and Pieter Van der Hulst (Cybersecurity Professional at i-Force). Each speaker addressed a selection of topics relevant to the industry including their thoughts on the key challenges, how they plan to navigate through these and the opportunities continue to arise in an ever-changing environment.
PEMA would like to extend their thanks to those who travelled from all over the world to create another successful Autumn Meeting in Antwerp this October. President Achim Dries also thanked the board members, Head of Technology Pat O’Leary and administration team Jean, Caroline and Karen for their ongoing support and commitment in delivering another successful event in Antwerp and our heartfelt gratitude to our event sponsors – Stinis and VDL.
Port Equipment Manufacturers Association
Registered Office: c/o Van Bael & Bellis, Glaverbel Building, Chaussée de la Hulpe 166 Terhulpsesteenweg, B-1170 Brussels, Belgium
Finance and management Office: CH-6900, Paradiso, Switzerland
Administration Team
Phone: +353 53 9376931
Email: [email protected]
