UNCTAD/TrainForTrade Port Management Programme Dissertations in Manila

​From 20 - 28 September, Mark Assaf and Aylwin Zabula, along with an UNCTAD consultant and a port expert from Dublin Port Company, as well as senior managers from the Philippine Ports Authority (PPA), will take part in the juries that will assess the case studies of 23 managers from the port communities of the Philippines. The participants have successfully completed the 8 modules of the Modern Port Management Course. Those who pass their dissertations will receive UNCTAD's Modern Port Management  Certificate. Moreover, the top three best dissertations will have the opportunity to be  featured in the upcoming Port Management Series.

Meanwhile, a coaching workshop will also be organized to train a new batch of local instructors from PPA and Cebu Port Authority (CPA). This workshop is a step towards being certified by TrainForTrade as local trainers in the future.

The Philippines has completed the second cycle of the Port Management Programme. Each training cycle lasts 16 to 24 months and comprises 240 hours of in-class training and a final thesis. The course deliveries are led by UNCTAD and international instructors (Irish port experts), as well as local senior managers who have completed the training-of-trainers workshop. This strategy highlights the uniqueness and strength of the TrainForTrade Port Management Programme in fostering local ownership to reinforce its impact and ensure sustainability. Local ownership of the programme is achieved through a financing scheme that requires the participating ports to provide the majority of the programme's funds, and by gradually shifting responsibility for implementing the programme from UNCTAD to the participating ports.