THE Asian Shipowners Forum has appointed a senior Cosco executive to be the first secretary general of its permanent secretariat.

Wei Jia-fu, Chairman of the 17th ASF and Chairman of the meeting, said: “We are pleased to announce the appointment of Mr Wang Cheng as the first Secretary General of the ASF. Mr Wang is presently a vice general manager of the Transportation Division, China Ocean Shipping (Group) Company, Beijing, and brings great experience and skill to the new position”.

The ASF, which represents around 50% of the world’s cargo carrying fleet, sees the move as a significant development . “We are confident that the appointment of Mr. Wang represents the dawn of a new era for a collective voice for Asian shipowners”, Capt Wei added.

Mr Wang first job will be to set up the permanent secretariat office in Singapore, as agreed in May this year at the 16th ASF meeting in Busan, Korea .

The ASF comprises the shipowner associations of Australia, China, “Chinese Taipei” (as the ASF refers to the Taiwan based association), Hong Kong, Japan, Korea and the Federation of ASEAN Shipowners’ Associations comprising shipping association of ASEAN countries. The aims of the ASF are to promote the interests of the Asian shipowning industries. Between annual ASF meetings, ongoing work is carried out by five committees; the Shipping Economics Review Committee, the Seafarers Committee, the Ship Recycling Committee, the Safe Navigation and Environment Committee, and the Ship Insurance and Liability Committee.