This plenary session will explore strategies and initiatives that promote territorial cohesion and social integration in port cities, fostering inclusive growth and stronger connections between ports and their urban communities.
This plenary session will explore strategies and initiatives that promote territorial cohesion and social integration in port cities, fostering inclusive growth and stronger connections between ports and their urban communities.
A civil engineer by training and a seasoned manager, Carl Laberge has been President and CEO of the Port of Saguenay since 2015. With more than 25 years' experience in engineering, management and project development, Carl Laberge is recognised for his leadership and development vision, which have greatly influenced the growth and strategic positioning of the Port of Saguenay in recent years.
He has in-depth knowledge of the maritime sector, as well as having previously worked on construction projects in the energy and industrial sectors.
Carl Laberge holds a master's degree in engineering and a master's degree in business administration. Involved in his community, he chaired the Saguenay-Le Fjord Chamber of Commerce and Industry between 2019 and 2021. He is also very involved in the maritime industry. He chaired the Canadian delegation of the American Association of Port Authorities (AAPA) and the Association of Canadian Port Authorities until 2023.
Ms. Pamela AYUKETAH is the Acting Director General of the National Port Authority (APN), a public administrative institution responsible for implementing national port policy as defined by the government through the supervision, regulation, monitoring, and evaluation of port activities. She is an experienced leader who has devoted more than 39 years of her career to public institutions, which she joined after training as a lawyer at the University of Yaoundé.
Santiago J. Castellà has been President of the Port Authority of Tarragona since October 2024, when he left his position as deputy delegate of the Spanish Government in Tarragona, a role he had held since January 2023.
For more than 25 years, he has been a professor of Public International Law at the Universitat Rovira i Virgili (URV), where he has served as dean of the Faculty of Legal Sciences and vice-rector for International External Relations.
As president of the Port Authority of Tarragona, he is also president of the first chemical cluster in southern Europe, Chemmed; president of the Center for Maritime Studies of the Port of Tarragona (CEMAPT); member of the Board of Directors of the Association for the Promotion of the Port of Tarragona (APPORTT); member of the Barcelona Catalunya Logistics Center (BCCL) association, and member of the Tarragona Chamber of Commerce. He is also a member of the international port organizations MEDPorts Association and Mediterranean Ports Community.
Hilda Ghiara is Adjunct Professor and Tenured Researcher in Applied Economics, at the Department of Economics of the University of Genoa Italy, where she is responsible for a full module dedicated to the port and maritime economy. She is also a member of the scientific board of the Italian Centre of Excellence for Integrated Logistics (CIELI). Alongside the AIVP, she was one of the promoters of the Port Center concept, a dedicated space helping to strengthen the relationship between the city and the port.