PHILIPPINES AND SWITZERLAND SIGN MEMORANDUM OF AGREEMENT TO BENEFIT FILIPINO SEAFARERS

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The Philippines and Switzerland signed on 03 March a Memorandum of Agreement on the Recognition of Certificates under the terms of the 1978 STCW Convention at the sidelines of theseventh bilateral political consultations between the two countries in Berne, Switzerland.

 

Philippine Ambassador to Switzerland, H.E. Joselito A. Jimeno, signed on behalf of the Philippine government, while H.E. Georges Martin, Deputy State Secretary of the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs signed for Switzerland.

 

MOA

Philippine Ambassador to Switzerland, H.E. Joselito A. Jimeno (left) and Swiss Deputy State Secretary for Foreign Affairs

Ambassador Georges Martin sign the Memorandum of Agreement on the Recognition of Certificates under the terms

of the 1978 STCW Convention.

 

The formal signing ceremony was witnessed by Atty. Herschel F. Magracia, Director for Enforcement Service of the Philippine Maritime Industry Authority (MARINA), and Mr. Lukas Roth, Deputy Head of the Swiss Maritime Navigation Office (SMNO).

 Under the MOA, the Parties agreed to recognize the certificates of competency for seafarers issued by the other Party pursuant to Regulation 1/10 of the 1978 STCW Convention, as amended.

The STCW Convention is one of the major pillars of existing international conventions aimed at ensuring safety at sea, maritime security and protection of the maritime environment.

Through the MOA, the Philippines has demonstrated the country’s firm commitment to continue to provide competent and highly qualified seafarers to the international shipping industry, and affirmed the country’s place in the list of leading maritime nations working for the International Maritime Organization’s (IMO) objectives of promoting safe, secure, environmentally sound, efficient and sustainable shipping.

The Filipino people are historically a seafaring people.  Being an archipelago, the sea plays a vital role in the cultural, political and economic life of all Filipinos since time immemorial.  To date, more than one-third of the seafarers/seamen worldwide, including in Swiss-flagged vessels, are Filipinos. END