LUSAKA, Oct. 11 (Xinhua) -- Delegates are due to meet in Zambia's southern city of Livingstone next month for a conference aimed at improving the management of African ports, a senior official said on Wednesday.
Minister of Transport and Communications Brian Mushimba said Zambia would for the first time in history host the Port Management Association of Eastern and Southern Africa (PAMESA) conference from November 22 to 24.
He told reporters during a press briefing that the conference will be held under the theme "Raising the Profile of Land Linked Countries in the Logistics and Maritime Value Chain."
"I feel proud to be hosting this event because it will be the first time in the history of PAMESA that a land linked country will be hosting the conference," he said.
He expressed happiness that the conference was being held at a time when Zambia was chair for the United Nations group on Landlocked Developing Countries (LLDCs).
PAMESA was an inter-governmental non-profit making organization that has a membership of 25 countries, with the primary objective of strengthening relations among member ports and organizations with a view of promoting regional cooperation and ultimately regional integration.
Zambia only has one port, Mpulungu, situated in the northern part of the country.
The government has since embarked on a project to modernize the port in a bid to increase its capacity at a cost of 100.4 million U.S. dollars.
