A group of 25 port executives from nine French-speaking African countries has completed the latest course hosted by Marseilles Fos under a port training initiative agreed upon by the United Nations trade and development body. The two-week course, which supplements on-job training, was presented by personnel from Nantes St Nazaire, Dakar and Valencia as well as Marseilles Fos, which has trained some 90 African port professionals from 12 countries since signing up to the UN scheme six years ago. The agreement was renewed last September and is seen by the port authority as an important step in expanding technical and commercial cooperation.
In another well-established initiative, the Marseilles Fos training institute is helping to train future professionals in partnership with academic faculties. Enrollment is now underway for 25 places on each of the two 2011-12 courses – international transport and port logistics, run in association with the National Conservatory; and a higher-level professional license course in management and maritime transport law run with the University of Aix-Provence III.