The 2016 International Nautical Congress of Colombia confirmed a roster of keynote speakers for the one-time summit, which is scheduled for April 27-29 in Cartagena de Indias.
Key speakers include dignitaries from Colombia, addressing the country as one of the premier emerging boating markets and its future potential and opportunity for the global marine industry.
The congress will open with a keynote address from executive director Díaz-Granados Guida, representative for Colombia and Ecuador of the Inter-American Development Bank, and Minister Cecilia Alvarez Correa of Colombia’s Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Tourism, or MINCIT.
Other confirmed key speakers are Minister Cecilia Alvarez Correa, MINCIT; Vice-Minister Sandra Howard, MINCIT; and Vice-Adm. Pablo Emilio Romero Rojas of DIMAR, Colombia’s national maritime authority.
MINCIT has declared the development of nautical tourism in Colombia a top priority. In 2010 the Colombian government invested in the development of the first Cruising Guide to Colombia, complete with 72 IHO-compliant navigational charts.
As a keynote speaker who will address this priority, Diaz-Granados has a long-standing commitment to the development of nautical tourism in Colombia.
“For the national government of Colombia, growing the recreational boating industry is a priority,” Antonella Farah, executive director of the newly formed trade association ANC, said in a statement. “The vice president of the Republic of Colombia, German Vargas Lleras, has placed a high sense of commitment to recreational boating by, for the first time in 17 years, reducing bureaucratic hurdles for marina development and evaluating marine regulations.”
