Cyprus Shipping made its presence felt at the high-level European Shipping Summit held on 19 and 20 September 2023, in Brussels. The event, organised by the European Community Shipowners’ Associations (ECSA) and other European shipping stakeholders, was also attended by Cyprus Shipping Chamber Director General, Thomas Kazakos.

The Summit which is considered as one of the most important maritime events in Europe, gathered together shipowners, shipping professionals and policy makers of the European and International Shipping to discuss current shipping matters and stress the importance for both the industry and the policy makers to navigate on the same course.

According to a press release issued by CSC, Cyprus was well-promoted through the active involvement of Philippos Philis, the President of ECSA, who opened the flagship Conference with a speech, stressing the message that "shipping is a cornerstone of European food, energy and supply-chain security and that Europe needs a strong maritime sector to maintain its global leadership."

During the working deliberations of the Conference, speeches were given by distinguished guests including the former President of the European Commission, José Manuel Barroso and the Director-General of DG MOVE, European Commission, Magda Kopczynska, showing the importance attached to the Conference, as well as to European Shipping.

Furthermore, the CSC co-organised within the framework of the European Shipping Summit with other shipowner’s associations a side session, entitled “How to increase the share of maritime transport in Europe’s trade”. The discussion involved sharing best practices in favor of more maritime transport.

The official opening ceremony of the working deliberations of the flagship Conference, on Wednesday 20 September, made by Philis, was preceded by a gala dinner on Tuesday, 19 September, at the Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium, during which the European Commission Vice-President, Margaritis Schinas gave a keynote speech.