The International Association of Ports & Harbors (IAPH) is pleased to announce the appointment of Jacques Vandermeiren, CEO of Port of Antwerp-Bruges, to the board as regional vice president of the Europe Region. The post was previously held by the former regional VP Stéphane Raison of HAROPA, who has joined the French national energy provider EDF.

Before his appointment at the Port Authority, Jacques Vandermeiren was active at Elia, the network operator and listed company, where he held various management positions since joining it in 2001 and became CEO in 2012. Vandermeiren has occupied various directorships with among others Febeg (Federation of Belgian Energy Companies) and the Federation of Belgian Enterprises.

The Port Authority hosted the launch of the IAPH World Ports Sustainability Program at its iconic Port House in 2018 and also hosted the virtual IAPH 2021 World Ports Conference following the announcement in February that year that the City of Antwerp and the City of Bruges had reached an agreement to merge their respective ports.

Jacques Vandermeiren, CEO of Port of Antwerp-Bruges

Port of Antwerp-Bruges is an active participant in the IAPH Climate and Energy and Data Collaboration technical committees, with their Harbour Master Niels Vanlaer chairing the Risk and Resilience technical committee. Both Niels and Jacques spoke at this year’s IAPH 2024 World Ports Conference in Hamburg.

Jacques Vandermeiren stated: “I am delighted to have been appointed onto the IAPH board to lead the Europe Region and would like to thank all the European members who have participated in the election process. Port of Antwerp-Bruges will continue its strong support for the association’s work on the global port sector’s energy transition, digital transformation and capacity building in terms of risk management and resilience. I look forward to work together with all ports to tackle the challenges of the future.”

IAPH President and CEO of Hamburg Port Authority Jens Meier commented: “we congratulate and welcome Jacques to the IAPH board. Port of Antwerp-Bruges has demonstrated its commitment to the Association by its active committee engagement and the key role played by Port of Antwerp-Bruges International’s APEC Port Training Center in partnership with IAPH and UNCTAD TrainforTrade to develop the highly successful Port Endeavor sustainability game which has been played globally by thousands of port professionals. We look forward to his support in the further engagement of our membership in Europe and beyond.”

Jacques Vandermeiren’s appointment is effective immediately with the current term until the Annual General Meeting during the 2025 IAPH World Ports Conference in Kobe, Japan. Elections are taking place next year for all IAPH board member positions, which have a duration of two years.