MOU for Regional Training Center in Djibouti Signed

A Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to allow the International Maritime Organization (IMO)

to fund the building of a regional training center in Djibouti, to promote the implementation of the Code of Conduct concerning the Repression of Piracy and Armed Robbery against Ships in the Western Indian Ocean and the Gulf of Aden (Djibouti Code of Conduct), was signed on Monday (30 May 2011), in Djibouti.
The MOU was signed by His Excellency Mr Mohamed Moussa Ibrahim Balala, Minister of Equipment and Transport, Republic of Djibouti, and Mr Koji Sekimizu, Director, Maritime Safety Division, IMO, at the opening ceremony of a high-level meeting, held to formulate a regional coordination process for maritime security training and to endorse the regional training centre.
After the signing ceremony, the meeting went on to adopt a resolution to establish the mission and objectives of the regional training centre in Djibouti; the coordination process for regional maritime training; and the process for the programming of regional training.
The training centre will be built using funds donated by Japan to the IMO Trust Fund for the implementation of the Djibouti Code of Conduct, which has been signed by 18 countries in the region.
The signing marks the end of a lengthy planning process and building work is expected to commence, on land donated by the Republic of Djibouti, by the end of June 2011.
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IMO – the International Maritime Organization – is the United Nations specialized agency with responsibility for the safety and security of shipping and the prevention of marine pollution by ships.
Web site: www.imo.org