20 Oct 2022

PEMA’s Autumn Meeting Reaches New Levels in Dubai

The PEMA Autumn Meeting was held in Dubai from October 3rd – 6th, 2022.   It was one of the association’s biggest events to date.  The event included a visit to the DP Word Port at Jebel-Ali which included a detailed presentation of the BOXBAY project. PEMA was delighted to meet so many colleagues, members and friends in person after a long 3-year break from face-to-face meetings. PEMA was especially pleased to welcome senior representatives from the port industry both as guests and speakers. Dominique Popesco, the wife of Ottonel, former president and founding member of PEMA was guest of honour at the event.

PEMA President, Achim Dries, moderated the meeting and provided updates on the association’s activities over the past few years. This included the Ottonel Popesco Student Challenge by PEMA, technical papers that have been published, webinars and conferences, and the appointment of O’Connell Marketing, PEMA’s new administration team. Jean O’Connell and Laura Codd launched the new PEMA brand and presented a demonstration of the new PEMA website which is now live at pema.org.

PEMA was delighted to welcome from the Port industry, six international guest speakers, Matthew Hoag (DP World), Jimmy Bansari (Adani), Carolina Parro (TIL), Edward Tah (Saudi Global Ports), Jon Arnup (Trent Global Services), and Heike Bethge (JIPC).   These speakers shared exclusive insights into the key challenges the industry and their organisations currently face, and how they plan to mitigate these challenges.

PEMA Head of Technology, Pat O’Leary moderated the Technical Committee Meeting on Thursday where he was joined by the chairs and vice-chairs of PEMA’s four Technical Committees. Participants provided great insight and had in-depth discussions as to the topics for white papers to be developed in the future. Pat also introduced the new Bulk Handling Committee.

PEMA would like to thank all those who attended the event and in particular DP World and WCS for their support in facilitating the Port visit.

Founded in 2004, PEMA provides a forum and public voice for the global port equipment and technology sectors. The Association has seen strong growth in recent years, and now has more than 119 member companies representing all facets of the industry, including crane, equipment and component manufacturers, automation, software and technology providers, consultants, and other experts.