Spain has been re-elected as a member of the Council in its category B, composed of 10 countries with the greatest interests in international maritime trade, in which competition had arisen between countries that aspired to join the Council.
The IMO Assembly has valued very positively the work that the Spanish delegation has been doing before this Organization, which has resulted in a majority support for the re-election of Spain as a member of the Council, placing it as the third most voted country in its category consolidating firmly the position of our country within the IMO Council.
Spain joined the IMO Council for the first time in 1973 and since 2001 maintains its position in the aforementioned category B, which today has consolidated with 145 votes after the elections held in London by the Assembly in which 164 delegations of States participated IMO members.
Spain conveys its gratitude to all countries that have placed their confidence in the candidacy and faces with renewed encouragement the future work within the IMO Council.
Following his meeting with the IMO Secretary General, Mr. Kitack Lim, on November 25, the Minister of Development, José Luis Ábalos, participated in the inaugural plenary session of the IMO Assembly reiterating to the more than 1,500 delegates participating the presence of Spain in the main management bodies of this specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for international maritime regulation.
In his speech, the minister recalled the involvement and commitment of Spain in improving maritime safety conditions – as can be seen from the recent celebration of the Ministerial Conference of Torremolinos on fishing vessel safety – as well as with the ecological transition, the digital revolution of the economy, equality between men and women and the fight against social inequality, without forgetting a clear reference to the need to find international solutions that improve the constant humanitarian challenge of migration by sea, so that it is Safe, tidy and regulated.
The permanence of Spain in the IMO Council during the next biennium 2020-2021 will allow maintaining the leadership of the Spanish delegation on issues as relevant as the sustainability of the maritime sector, providing an open and supportive vision and offering a comprehensive program of technical cooperation for the benefit of countries that require greater capacity for the implementation of IMO instruments. Spain will contribute its extensive experience as a country of historical maritime tradition – in the biennium in which the V Centenary of the first round of the world of Magallanes-Elcano is commemorated – while promoting the adaptation of the maritime sector to the new challenges linked to the sustainability of the planet and the development of new technologies linked to interconnectivity and artificial intelligence, in order to promote quality mobility, sustainable, accessible and respectful of the Sustainable Development Goals, which constitutes one of the priorities of the Ministry of development.