Seven nationalities, twenty-one students, twelve days and more than seventy hours of training. These are the figures of the course hosted by the Port of Valencia in the framework of the ‘Train For Trade’ program, organized by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD). Under the name ‘Training of Trainers Workshop. Course on modern port management’, its content -developed by experts from Valenciaport and the port community of Valencia- focuses on teaching the key management aspects of port management.

Argentina, Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico, Panama, Peru and Dominican Republic are the countries where the port professionals who are being trained at the Port Authority of València (PAV) come from. The ‘Training of Trainers’ workshop aims for the students of the course to become the protagonists of local development in their home ports, appropriating the knowledge and skills of Valencian experts that they will then replicate in their home countries, thus ensuring a multiplier effect in their port communities.

The logistics chain, international trade and transport, the port as infrastructure, the functioning of the port system and the challenges of a sustainable port are the four main areas around which the students are being trained. For Gonzalo Anaya, head of the Spanish-speaking Network of the Train For Trade Port Management Program, “it is a unique opportunity to promote and strengthen the networking of port communities”.

Collaboration between the PAV and UNCTAD

The Port Authority of València has been collaborating with the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) in port training programs since 2001. In 2007, both entities signed a collaboration agreement for the development of the Train for Trade port training program in Spanish-speaking developing countries, which has included actions such as technical assistance missions to Latin American countries and seminars in Valencia and Gijón.

The study material is regularly updated by UNCTAD with the collaboration of port experts from the Port Authorities of València and Gijón. It consists of manuals, videos, evaluations, individual and group exercises that are available on the TrainForTrade distance learning platform.
Source: The Port Authority of Valencia