Marcos approves 10-year plan to improve PH maritime industry

Seafarers processing their employment documents gather at the Seafarer’s Shed on T.M. Kalaw Street in Ermita, Manila. Photo taken in December 2022. (File photo by GRIG C. MONTEGRANDE / Philippine Daily Inquirer)

MANILA, Philippines — President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. approved a 10-year plan to improve the country’s maritime industry, said the Palace on Tuesday.

In Executive Order (EO) No. 55, Marcos said that the Maritime Industry Development Plan 2028 (MIDP) needed to be adopted to tap the country’s full potential.

“To fully realize our potential as a maritime nation, the country requires a clearly defined and coordinated roadmap that shall accelerate the integrated development of the Philippine Maritime Industry,” Marcos said in the EO.

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The EO was signed by Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin on February 8 but released to the media on Tuesday.

Under the new EO, the Philippine Marina must adopt a system to implement the MIDP, which means modernizing and expanding domestic shipping and widening the overseas shipping industry.

The plan also includes improving the country’s shipbuilding and repair industry, upskilling the maritime workforce, and promoting environmentally sound naval practices.

Marcos also ordered all government agencies to align their policies with the new EO to ensure its implementation.