(NEWS) WMU and the Finnish Transport Safety Agency (TRAFI) Sign a Memorandum of Understanding on Cooperation

May

2016

WMU and the Finnish Transport Safety Agency (TRAFI) Sign a Memorandum of Understanding on Cooperation

On the occasion of the European Maritime Day 2016 hosted by the Government of Finland in Turku, the World Maritime University (WMU) and the Finnish Transport Safety Agency (TRAFI) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on cooperation in the field of marine, maritime and ocean affairs, including maritime policy, safety, energy efficiency, security and marine environmental and ocean management. TRAFI brings together all stakeholders in the maritime cluster in Finland which can significantly benefit WMU in terms of expertise, training and research capacity. According to the MOU, TRAFI will provide academic support, field studies training for WMU students and seek to assist in the search for fellowship funding from Finnish sources to the University to enable students from developing countries to study at WMU. In turn, WMU will make available places for qualified applicants from the Finnish maritime transportation sector. Both parties undertake to collaborate in joint research projects.

Dr. Cleopatra Doumbia-Henry, WMU President hailed the signing of the MOU, “This MOU represents an important step in strengthening WMU’s cooperation with Finland. It reflects the engagement of the stakeholders within TRAFI to support the mission and objectives of WMU to educate and build capacity for maritime and oceans constituents, particularly those of developing countries. It also supports the University in helping to build capacity for the implementation of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and in particular, goal 14 relating to the Oceans that needs to be achieved by 2020 and goal 17 concerning partnerships.”

Mr. Tuomas Routa, Director General of the Maritime Sector Finnish Transport Agency, stated “This MOU is TRAFI´s commitment to support the very valuable educational work of WMU which benefits the shipping society worldwide. We are delighted to share the Finnish expertise, knowledge and experience, especially in environmental issues, with the students of WMU. This is a concrete way to support students, especially from the developing countries, and is our investment in the future shipping generations.”

The MOU will be for duration of five years. It will put the cooperation between WMU and TRAFI on a solid base.

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