6th GPF Executive ProgamGlobalPortsMgt, 13-17 Oct, 2025 Antwerp, Belgium

Global Ports Forum presents the 6th GPF Global Ports Management Executive Program, 13-17 Oct 2025, Antwerp, Belgium

Exclusive & Innovative in Content!

Dear industry colleagues

STRUCTURE

This five days Management program is structured to provide intensive coaching combined with interactive workshops, individual and group case studies and participants’ presentations on all important subjects.

SIGNIFICANCE AND RELEVANCE OF THE MANAGEMENT PROGRAMS

This one week training program aims to prepare executives in Ports and Terminals – authorities, developers, operators, financers, shipping companies, ports and logistics service providers, port consultants, other allied industries and services; to assume higher level of roles and responsibilities by providing them an overall framework of Ports Business. The program provides the basic concepts, tools, information and knowledge to participants about the Ports and terminals.

A bird’s eye-view on Integrated functioning of complex Port and terminals organizations – defining and understanding Vision, Mission, Objectives and goals. Cohesive functioning of all the departments facilitates achieving common goals and objectives. The program provides a platform to the participants to develop a comprehensive understanding and knowledge on ports and terminal management, administration and efficient operations.

While majority of Ports and terminals executives possess requisite knowledge and expertise in their assigned roles and responsibilities, very few claim to have an overall understanding and clarity in the integrated functioning of the ports and terminals organizations. Clarity and understanding of overall comprehensive functioning of the port and terminal helps in mutual co-operation among departments thereby delivering seamless and smooth services to customers for customer delight and improved level of financial performance. This in turn may lead to satisfied stakeholders in the ports and terminals. In a constantly changing environment of the ports and terminals industry, with high degree of value migration; every port and terminal needs to deliver best value to the customers. All port and terminal organizations need to develop their manpower to be prepared with requisite training in order to respond to changing demands in important aspects of services parameters in a proactive manner.

The 5 days Classroom training of the Management Program encompasses all major and important functions of the ports and terminals – their basic practices, international norms and standards to benchmark against best practices at the operational level. Continuation in the next 5 days of the program leading to Advanced Management Program consolidates all important functions and decision making process at strategic level.

With a total of over eight decades of experience in ports and terminals planning, development and operations; experienced course directors from Global Ports Forum have put in their expertise to share the best practices and benchmarks in line with world class standards and norms, making the participants to aim in quest of excellence.

PROGRAM DETAILS (daily 9.00am to 5.00pm)

Day 1 – World Maritime Trade and development of international ports. Understanding Role of Ports as vital gateways for national trade and economic development. Changing role of Ports as most essential link in the international logistics and supply chain.

Types of Ports and classification of ports and terminals based on nature of business and customers to be served – passengers and different types / categories of cargo. General or multi-purpose ports v/s specialized ports - Advantages and disadvantages. Classification of Ports and terminals based on ownership / operation structure.

Classroom training followed by case studies, group discussions and presentations.

Day 2 – Port Business analysis. Understanding dynamics, market forces and elements which impact the ports business. Analysis of each factor and extent of its influence on the port business volume and revenue. Mapping competition activities and market environment scan. Discussion on case study of one or two ports examples.

Process of Port Development for new project sites and existing project sites. Site selection, prefeasibility studies, plans for environment management, project funding and financing options and structure; Legal and commercial terms – concession agreements. Classroom training followed by case studies, group discussions and presentations.

Day 3 – Site investigation and detailed studies, preparation of bankable Detailed Project Report (DPR), achieving Financial Closure for the project, negotiation of legal and commercial terms and signing concession agreement. Classroom training and group discussions.

Day 4 – Pricing and tariff – understanding price sensitivity vis-a-vis competition, different revenue elements against type of services and tariff preparation. Determination of business volume for the life of the project as per terms of concession agreement. Understanding different capital costs and operating costs for each operation. Based on revenue and costs, arriving at profitability and preparing basic financial model with user friendly dashboard for investment decisions.

Classroom training and case study with practical exercise of financial modelling.

Day 5 – Operating procedures for Marine, dry bulk cargo, liquid bulk cargo and container operations. As well as all support services like Engineering Services, warehousing, transport & logistics – road / rail operations, Safety & Security, Marketing and Business Development. Preparation of check lists and work instructions as a part of Integrated Management System.

Classroom training and case studies.

PROJECT REPORT

At the end of the 5 days training program, each participant will be given a topic on ports / terminal industry. Participants would be required to prepare a project report and submit the same within a period of 1 month for critical evaluation and review by the course director, who will award suitable grade to each participant as per contents and quality of the project report.

ELIGIBILITY FOR CERTIFIED GLOBAL PORTS MANAGER PROGRAM (CGPM) for participants of the GPF Executive Program on Global Ports Management

CGPM program is governed by a Qualification Review Board (QRB) which comprises leading international experts from Ports and Terminals industry and academicians. Upon satisfying the criteria and requirements of the QRB and subject to the level of competency and responsibility, successful participants will be permitted to undertake the 5 days GPF Executive Program on Global Ports Management.

On completion of the 5 days GPF Executive Program on Global Ports Management, participants will prepare a submit a project report. On approval of the project report by the QRB, the participants will be awarded the CGPM title. CGPM holders are entitled to use the title of CGPM in recognition of their competence.

Details on CGPM as follows:-

http://globalportsforum.com/certified-global-port-manager-cgpm/

PROGRAM DIRECTORS (subject to final confirmation)

Thomas Ng

Thomas Ng has over 30 years of training & consulting experience in the ports and shipping industry – in developing innovative solutions for players within the ports & shipping industry, — in areas of planning & redesign, customer services and business operations; and delivering results.

He is the present Chairman of The Global Ports Forum (GPF). Since 2008, Thomas founded and launched the GPF, a platform where all ports stakeholders in the ecosystem- port customers, port authorities, port operators, port people, port suppliers & service providers are gathered together to discuss about issues furthering the interests of ports globally.

Thomas is proven and well-respected in the ports & shipping circles — recognized for his in-depth industry knowledge and far-reaching personal industry network and linkages.

Thomas is invited regularly as speaker & facilitator at Ports conferences, roundtable and executive workshops. He spoke recently at Transport Intelligence 2013 Infrastructure panel, together with senior executives from World Bank & UPS, Container Depot Association Singapore Conference 2014 on ports and infrastructure, Tank Storage Conference in 2015 and Roundtable on Smart ports & ships and Internet of Things in Jun 2016.

On a professional level, Thomas founded the non-government voluntary organization — The Global Ports Council (GPC) in 2008. As of today, over 192 C-level executives globally presents themselves as members of our council. Our prestigious list of Council members are as follows:

http://globalportsforum.com/the-global-ports-council/

Thomas is also a veteran Chartered member (since 2001) of the Chartered Institute of Logistics & Transport Singapore since 2001. He served as a Board Member of the Singapore Branch of Chartered Institute of Logistics & Transport for over 22 years.

Vikram Sharma

Capt. Vikram Sharma was the Chief Executive Officer of Terminal Investment Limited Sarl from 2008 to 2018. Terminal Investment Limited (TIL) is the terminal/port investment branch of MSC Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC). In 2013 Capt Sharma was responsible for successfully arranging a minority stake sale (35%) to Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP) with MSC owning the balance majority stake. TIL invests in and manages around 50 container terminals, either wholly owned or in Joint Venture with other leading Global Terminal Operators, all over the world. Capt Sharma reported to the Board of Directors, overall responsibility for creating, planning, implementing and integrating the strategic direction of the organization, with a view to creating shareholder value.

During his tenure at TIL, Mr. Sharma held a seat on boards of various subsidiary and joint venture terminals spread over the world or responsible for nominating colleagues to various terminal board positions. Set up the full management structure of TIL between Sept 2008 and May 2009 and more than tripled number of terminals under ownership/joint venture and management of Terminal Investment Limited from 14 in 2009 to 50 in 2018.

Capt Sharma was responsible for leading the team in designing, constructing and managing several terminals around the world from greenfield/brownfield sites to profit making ventures including Smelte Klaipedos – Klaipeda, Lithuania; Lome Container Terminal – Lome, Togo; Adani International Container Terminal Pvt Ltd – Mundra, India (JV with Adani); Fos XL – Fos Marseille, France (JV with APMT); National Container Terminal – King Abdullah econ. City, S. Arabia (JV with IPM); Asya Port – Tekirdag, Turkey; Brazil Terminal Portuario – Santos, Brazil (later sold 50% shares to APMT).

He had full P&L responsibility for group terminals. He substantially grew group EDITDA from around USD150 million in 2009 to more than USD750 million (TIL share). Overall container moves in excess of 40 million with revenue in excess of USD3 billion (TIL share). Direct Reports – heads of Operational, Financial, Treasury, Legal, Engineering, Risk Management and Internal Audit Departments. Capt. Sharma was nominated as amongst the top 10 Most Influential Persons in the Container Terminal Industry by Lloyds List for 2016~2018.

Since Capt Sharma’s retirement from TIL in Mar 2018, he is active in various consultancy and advisory roles in the container terminal industry.

Mukesh Parikh

Mr. Mukesh Parikh is associated with Global Maritime Industry for over 40 years. He has a distinction of having hands on Maritime Industry experience with continuous involvement in Training and Development throughout his distinguished career.

He has been conducting a number of executive training programs on ports and terminals at Singapore, UAE, South Africa and other international locations, in addition to his current position of Adjunct Professor at Adani Institute of Infrastructure Management.

Mr. Mukesh Parikh has a post graduate degree in Management with specialization in Marketing and Finance. He attended one year training program Professional Shipping at Norwegian Shipping Academy, Oslo.

During his career of 18 years in the Commercial Shipping, he was associated with UNCTAD/UNDP as a Trainer and Course developer. He attended two weeks instructors’ Workshop (Training for Trainers) organized by UNCTAD / UNDP in collaboration with The Ministry of Transport and Ports in Malaysia at Penang Port Commission. He conducted a number of training Programs in the Middle East, South East Asia and Indian subcontinent including developing a training program on General Shipping Management for Arab Maritime Transport Academy, Sharjah, UAE.

A sound foundation of Shipping Industry and clear understanding of market and customer expectation and requirement from service providers enabled Mr. Mukesh Parikh to build the next phase of his career in Ports and Terminal Industry.

He worked with The Adani Group in Senior Management position for 10 years from the inception stage of Mundra Port in India and made a major contribution to set up Business Development and Marketing team as well as establish Standard Operating Procedures for the entire spectrum of Operations in the port. He successfully built marketing and operations teams and trained them.

Since July 2014, Mr. Mukesh Parikh has taken up advisory and consultancy role for The Maritime Industry. His assignments cover Business volume estimation and hinterland mapping with competition analysis, Revenue forecasts for the life of the project and financial modelling, investment optimization in line with market potential; Commercial and legal aspects of logistics, cargo handling, warehousing contracts; business excellence and standardization of operating procedures; Organization development, structuring and Manpower planning and training. He has also advised a number of clients about the Concession agreements and entering in to sub-concessions.

Capt Sanjiv Chhibber

Capt Sanjiv Chhibber has 41 years of extensive experience in Senior leadership positions within the maritime and port industry, spanning vital functional areas across the Middle East, Africa and India. He had 17 years of sea-going experience. Capt Chhibber is a Master Mariner with experience in General Management, Port Operations, Business Development, Customer Service and Key Account Management, including Main Lines and Feeder Lines. Proactive maritime/port professional with a process-driven, customer service-oriented and results-focused approach.

Capt Chhibber sailed on board breakbulk and container vessels from 1981 to 1993, out of these eight years in command as Master, sailing mainly in the Red Sea, Africa, the Indian Subcontinent and the Far East. From 1993 to 2005 he worked onshore as Pacific International Lines (P.I.L.) (Pte) Ltd. Singapore's Regional Director – Owners Representative. 1993 till 1998 - Mombasa / Kenya, handling P.I.L.'s Commercial & Operations activities in Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Mauritius and Comoros Islands. 1996 established P.I.L. (K) Ltd., P.I.L.'s shipping Agency office in Mombasa. 1998 till 2002 – Mumbai In charge of all I.C.D.'s in north India and all ports on the west coast of India. 2002 – 2005 – Dubai, Chhibber handled Operations and Commercial activities of P.I.L. in the Red Sea and Arabian Gulf ports, looking after Djibouti, Yemen, Sudan, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan and all ports in the Persian Gulf.

At PIL, Capt Chhibber negotiated terminal agreements & contracts with various port authorities in the region. Monitored the performance of all port agents and sub-agents within the territorial scope. Monitored vessel operations in ports, ensuring quick turnaround. Capt Chhibber expanded PIL’s Business development, new opportunities and service deployments within the region, soliciting and canvassing import and export cargo nominations. Developing reverse marketing strategies, new markets and logistics-related activities. Capt Chhibber represented P.I.L. as Owner's Representative within various shipping consortium forums and set up a liaison with all major shipping lines. He successfully developed the East Africa trade, whereby volumes tripled since the inception of services. Customer service was the top priority, and Chhibber provided sales and after-sale services, and all customer complaints were handled efficiently.

From 2005 – 2018, Capt Chhibber held senior Management positions at D.P. World U.A.E Region F.Z.E.

From 2005 to 2012, Commercial department as head of the Customer Service section. Capt Chhibber’s core competency at DPW include shipping Main lines account management, Strategic planning, Port Operations, Customer relationship management, Contract Management, Business Development, Resource planning, Team management, and General management. He reviewed port tariff every two years, and all service charges adjusted to recover the additional cost. 2012 to 2018, Container Terminal Operations Dept, Capt Chhibber oversaw berth and resource planning for all the 3 container terminals and general cargo berths in Jebel Ali. In container terminal operations, his involvement was in improving the efficiency of equipment, cost management, quick turnaround of vessels, efficiency in yard and terminal gates, quick turnaround of outside trucks, and planning to receive and commission new quay cranes and yard equipment.

At D.P. World, Capt Chhibber other responsibilities include - the productivity of quay cranes; yard equipment and vessel performance; Operations Reports for terminal management; carried out Activity-based costing (A.B.C.) of container terminal; Container terminal's annual budget; yard capacity and equipment requirements; Container terminal commissioning; receiving New terminal equipment and commissioning; container terminal capacity forecast and development of new capacity; Planning yard, quay and berth civil and electrical work maintenance; Allocating container terminals to shipping lines belong to different consortiums; SLA agreement terms negotiated with shipping lines and implementation monitored; Berth windows allocation to different services of shipping lines; Daily berth planning is monitored to ensure terms of SLA achieved. These mentioned responsibilities had given Capt Chhibber extensive experience in container terminal management, strategy, process review, automation of services, and cost control, with top priority given to safety.

Ng Koon Seng

Ng Koon Seng (FCA Singapore, FCCA UK, FCPA Australia) has over 30 years of experience in a global logistics, ocean freight operations and container transportation conglomerate. He has a wealth of international experience from his career in shipping, global container equipment operation; process Optimization, end to end finance system setup for the shipping business start-up operation, transformation, change management, merger & acquisitions and divestures. He was engaged by Jurong Port Pte Ltd in year 2014 as a Finance system lead and business process consultant for a Joint Venture start up Port/Terminal project, providing finance IT project management and translate user requirements into solution concept, prepare training manuals specific to each finance processes and setting up the finance organization, Multi-Purpose Port/Terminal billing system and implementation of the real time integrated Enterprise financial full system from scratch through end to end finance process innovation and design, develop innovation and out-of-box solutions, lean and digitize, user & finance-friendly administration, workflow integrated for Marunda Center Terminal – PT. Pelabuhan Tegar Indonesia, the 1st private international & domestic multi-purpose seaport which focusing in General Cargo & Bulk Cargo (dry & liquid) in greater Jakarta area. The port is a joint venture between Marunda Center Industrial Estate (www. marundacenter.com) Indonesia and Jurong Port Pte Ltd (www.jp.com.sg) a leading international multi-purpose port operator in Singapore. The integrated port billing and finance system is up and live in Marundra Center Terminal.

He was also tasked to do research on the Ports in Thailand, training, financial modelling with Activity-based costing Analysis for the Aggregates and sand Terminal project.

Mr Ng spent 25 years of his career with NOL/APL, a world leader in shipping and logistics services with annual turnover of US$8b., holding various senior management positions from liners services, special cargoes, freight forwarding, shipping agencies, manage PSA’s appropriated Berth scheme for shipping consortia to global equipment operation including M&A of APL, lead Post Merger integration and transformation of the NOL/APL global equipment operation, depots, trucking, rail, land and intermodal operation which involved more than US$1.5 Billion worth of operational cost globally. Head of the NOL global equipment management and achieved significant hard core saving per company’s testimonial thru dynamics operational modelling.

17th GPF Anniversary Special. Pay for Two participants, another Two comes free. No other promotion applicable.

Costs:

On or Before 15 Jul 2025: The ‘Early Bird’ Rate is USD8995.00 – Save USD800!

Special Offer! – 3 Delegates For The Price of 2 in This Category! Save USD8995.00!

From 16 Jul 2025: The Regular Rate is USD9795.00

Special Offer! – 3 Delegates For The Price of 2 in This Category! Save USD9795.00!

Note: All fees stated include luncheons, refreshments and complete set of documentation. It does not include the cost of accommodation, visa fees and travel.

Register Now! To register, please submit the following details to thomasng@globalportsforum.com:

Name:

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Billing information:

For cheque payments: To be made payable to 'Global Ports Forum Pte. Ltd.' Please do not send post-dated cheque.

For telegraphic transfers:

Account Name: Global Ports Forum Pte. Ltd.,

Account No. : 695 477 141 001.

Beneficiary Bank: Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation Limited, Singapore. (Swift: OCBCSGSG),

Address : 65 Chulia Street #01-00, OCBC Centre, Singapore 049513.

Please supply confirmation via email of the TT from your bank. Transmitting bank charges must be paid by sender. Please quote both delegate and company name as reference.

Kindly note that as we are providing a special rate for ‘early bird’ sign up, we will need to receive your company payment by 13 Aug 2025 to enjoy the discount.

Look forward to welcoming you at the executive programme/executive workshops/forums.

Kind regards

Thomas Ng

Chairman

The Global Ports Forum

GLOBAL PORTS FORUM PTE. LTD.

10 Anson Road

#18-11

International Plaza

Singapore 079903

Website: http://www.globalportsforum.com/

Mobile: +65 9684 3289

DID: +65 65197662

Fax: +65 6725 8438

Email: thomasng@globalportsforum.com

Terms & Conditions:

No delegate registration will be accepted without completing registration details and full payment.

Upon receipt of your registration details and full payment, further programme information will be emailed to you including your proforma invoice and, if required, a letter of invitation for entry visa application.

Delegates will not be admitted unless payment has been received in Full. Flights, Airport Transfers and Accommodation are not included in your delegate registration fee.

Refund Policy - a reimbursement of the registration fee, minus administrative charges will only be made if the participant has notified Global Ports Forum Pte. Ltd. in writing that he/she is unable to attend the event no less than 45 days prior to the commencement of the event.

No cancellation is allowed after that, but a replacement with another participant is allowed. This programme is subject to change without notice, E&O.E.