An official of shipping giant International Container Terminal Services, Inc. (ICTSI) is urging national agencies to exercise political will to help address interconnected issues in the shipping industry.
During the 2023 Pilipinas Conference on Nov. 22, ICTSI Executive Vice President and Global Corporate Head Christian Gonzales said the firm has built a long-standing "relationship of trust" with national regulators, but there are still issues that he describes as "friction regulation" from intertwined bodies of government.
This extends to the barangay level, where Gonzales stated that an operation can be halted and billions of dollars of investments incurred overtime from both the public and private sectors can be wasted if low-level officials can shut them down.
"We need government at the highest levels to look at the weakest points of the chains we're involved in, understand what is creating the weakness in those particular links, and use political will to solve it," he said.
Gonzales described the shipping industry as critical and "effectively the economic heartbeat of the country."
The ICTSI is a "successful entity," he noted, wherein "good work has been done with the government for a long time and with private sector partners."
The shipping firm conducted its first public-private partnership (PPP) at least 35 years ago, Gonzales mentioned.
He added that due to this, ICTSI can acquire money, build the necessary infrastructure, as well as protect its assets and technology.
The ICTSI was first established in 1988, and has developed a business in the fields of port development, management, and operations in various locations in the Asia Pacific, the Americas, and Europe, the Middle East and Africa.