IIn my capacity as Chairman of the Australian Shipowners Association, it is my privilege and pleasure to take my turn as Chairman of the Asian Shipowners Forum in this 14th year of its existence. This is the second time that Australia has hosted this distinguished gathering of Asian shipping delegates and I am particularly pleased that we are re-visiting the same venue as in 1998. I warmly welcome all of our distinguished delegates and hope that they and their accompanying persons have a rewarding and memorable visit to this splendid venue.

Our industry is for once enjoying one of its more stellar periods, with demand for all types and sizes of tonnage surpassing our most optimistic projections. We know from many dark days in the past that such peaks are frequently short and, paradoxically, sometimes ultimately damaging to our long-term health, but we will enjoy these days for so long as they last.

The ASF is intended to provide a strong unified voice for Asian shipowners in circumstances where many decisions affecting our well-being are taken outside of our region and frequently without reference to our concerns and ideas. Whilst the work of our 5 ‘S’ Committees continues to provide expert input to the work of our Forum, I have a view that our voice needs to be heard more strongly and with greater effect if the interests of Asian shipowners are to be protected. I intend to continue to work to gain agreement between our members on a more robust and meaningful structure that will allow our Forum to be universally recognised as an influential and respected representative body on the world stage of shipping.

We will however continue to enjoy the strong bond of goodwill and fellowship that characterises the relationships between our members. This is never more apparent than when we meet for our annual forum. I sincerely hope that this ASF14 will be at least as successful as those that preceded it, and I very much hope that the delegates and their wives, partners and families enjoy the programme that has been arranged for them.