Towards a new Baltic Sea Agenda

During the last few years many things have changed in the Baltic Sea Region. One of the most significant changes is of course the EU enlargement in 2004 and, as we all know, the change has been very evident. The transport volumes in the Baltic have grown and requirements for developing the logistics and information management in the area are intensifying. Cities and organizations around the Baltic Sea are looking for uniform policies to address the future transport challenge. A lot of research has been carried out, but amazingly little has yet been done in this field.

The UBC has also found it important to form its own policies on these crucial issues, namely the transportation (logistic) corridors system in the BSR, the environmental questions and the IT-solutions, says Mr Christian Ramberg, chairman of the UBC Logistics Task Force.

In the Baltic Sea region international cargo is carried mainly by sea, but as we know, dense traffic can also generate problems. The marine environment is very sensitive and there is, for example, growing concern about the rapidly increasing oil shipments. International co-operation in all fields between the countries by the Baltic Sea is of utmost importance, not least regarding transport, safety and the environment. The enlargement of the EU has also transferred the centre of the Union further eastwards. There is a much faster growth rate for transport volumes moving between east and west than for traditional trade between north and south.

As maritime logistics form a vital part of the activities in the Baltic Sea Region as well as in the EU as a whole, the UBC Executive Board decided to create the Logistics Task Force in May 2004. The main aims of the Logistics Task Force are the following:

• to gather different parties together and facilitate discussions about the most important and urgent development needs in the maritime logistics field
• to prepare the UBC policies on the crucial issues of the transportation (logistic) corridors system in the BSR,
• to organize a conference "Towards a New Baltic Sea Agenda" in Turku on 30 September 2005, where one the conference themes will be maritime logistics.

As this is such a vast field, the most important concrete development needs will be defined separately for transport & infrastructure, safety & environment and logistics IT. Because the UBC does not have deep knowledge in logistics, the transport industry and several organizations willbe contacted. The UBC policies to be presented at the conference in Turku in September will be based on their view.

The chairman of the UBC Logistics Task Force is Christian Ramberg, managing director of the Port of Turku since 2000. He has many years of experience in logistics and maritime transport. The Port of Turku is one of Finlands most important ferry ports, handling most of the ferry cargo shipped between Finland and Scandinavia. The initiative to form the UBC Logistics task Force was also takenby the city of Turku (Abo in Swedish).

Mr Ramberg is convinced that goods transport will hold a key position in the future development of the whole of the EU.

- The basic logistics must be working smoothly if the BSR wants to grow and become stronger, he says. He thinks that his most important task as chairman of the UBC Logistics Task Force is to promote the launching of a common UB C strategy and policy for logistic and maritime matters in the Baltic Sea Region.

The transport policy of the UBC will be one of the key topics at the VIII General Conference, which will be held in Turku this autumn. Mr Ramberg informs that there is a strong interest for such questions in the Baltic Sea Region.
- We are going to sign up transport and logistics experts as speakers, and we expect a great interest in participating init.

There is a growing need for actions in the region. During the last few years a lot of research has been done in many different fields, but there has been very little cooperation and coordination - Now it is time to start carrying out decisions already taken, Mr Ramberg says.

The main problem is that the society does not always have the financial resources to carry out everything on the decided data. Someone has to make the uneasy decisions. It is also important to have as many parties as possible participating in the process. I think that the UBC is the right forum for providing those people, making the decisions, with relevant basis for the decisions.

Our main task is to define and highlight the most relevant issues. We have decided to focus on maritime logistics, because a working transport network is perhaps the most essential single condition for continued economic growth in the area.

The role of the UBC Logistics Task Force Mr Ramberg compares with that of a port:
- We don't want to teach the sector how to handle transport, we just want to provide the best possible conditions by adapting fast enough to a constantly changing environment.

Mr Ramberg thinks that the UBC Logistics Task Force will adapt itself to the needs of the transport sector.

It is of greatest importance to include the transport sector in the future debate, too. So far the talking has been done mostly elsewhere and the sector itself has been leftoutside.

At present there is a large number of different organisations within the Baltic Sea area representing many specialist areas. Has the founding of the UBC Logistics Task Force created yet another?

Indeed there are many different organisations doing a lot of good work, but I still think that they are a little bit fragmented when looking at the picture as a whole. Sometimes it also seems like the same things appear again and again, but in different forms, MrRambergexplains. In his opinion the UBC Logistics Task Force wants primarily to get an overall picture of different issues. We bring up questions and decide which ones are important and which less important.

Mr Ramberg underlines that the UBC Logistics Task Force is by no means a specialist group of experts when it comes to maritime logistics. He thinks its strength lies in the fact that the parent organisation UBC represents a large number of cities around the Baltic Sea and that the task force is participating in many meetings of different expert organisations.
- My vision is that the UBC should work as a uniting forum and highlight the most important issues taken up by the different organisations, which we are participating in. When we have brought up the most important problems, then it is up to the expert groups to deal with them.

According to Mr Ramberg it is also about getting the transport sector's voice heard. Otherwise there is always a risk that important issues are given too low priority.

We will then approach different expert organisations and ask for their opinion. We have good co-operation with the Baltic Ports Organisation (BPO), Baltic Development Forum (BDF) and Helcom, for example.

The countries around the Baltic Sea have every reasonto guard their interests. If they don't, no one else will for then. There is a need for a common view and strategy in important issues. If everyone works towards the same goal, then success will follow, Mr Ramberg says.

Accordingly, Mr Ramberg thinks it is high time to make a standpoint on many important questions. The same questions are discussed from different points of views in so many forums.

A hot topic is the number of ports needed for the main transport networks in the Baltic Sea area, and which ports should be given this status. Will there be strong concentration of cargo flows? Other issues which Mr Ramberg thinks that the UBC Logistics Task Force should deal with in the near future are those related to maritime safety and environment.

Safety is a very current issue for ports, because of the ISPS code, but who should end up paying for all the additional costs, he asks. In the Baltic Sea maritime environmental issues are focusing very much on oil transport, but within the Intermodal transport is another important field for further development.

There has been much talk about a number of ports acting as hubs for the cargo flow in the Baltic Sea area, but who should be in charge of the financing, Mr Ramberg asks. The government or the private sector? And to what extent should the governments try to steer the cargo flows?

With many years of experience in transport and logistics, Mr Ramberg knows that the cargo always finds its own route, usually the most rational and less costly route. He thinks it is very important for the Logistics Task Force to understand this and to establish close co-operation with the maritime transport sector.

Without knowing the needs of the logistic and maritime sector it is very hard to succeed in developing the area, he thinks. It is difficult to imagine the Baltic Sea Region without well functioning maritime logistics and I think that this is what it is all about.- Transport definitively forms a cornerstone in our modern society, Mr Ramberg concludes.

by Pär-Henrik Sjöström