IMO Secretary-General Kitack Lim
Kitack Lim was elected Secretary-General of the Organization by the 114th session of the IMO Council in June 2015 for a four-year period beginning 1 January 2016. The election was endorsed by the IMO’s Assembly at its 29th session in November 2015.
Mr. Kitack Lim (Republic of Korea) is the eighth elected Secretary-General of the International Maritime Organization.
A message from IMO Secretary-General Kitack Lim
“It is a great honour to have been elected as Secretary-General of this prestigious and important Organization, and as I begin my term I very much look forward to the challenges ahead.
I join an august group of people who have been chosen to lead this organization and I would like to pay tribute to them all – in particular my immediate predecessor, Mr. Koji Sekimizu, whose enthusiasm and devotion to meeting the Organization’s goals has brought such positive and beneficial results.
IMO currently faces an array of issues. With the collective wisdom and insight of IMO Member States and other stakeholders, I am confident we can meet these challenges and continue to forge a future where shipping meets the needs of the world in a safe, secure and sustainable way, building on the substantial efforts and achievements of the IMO to date.
My vision is one of strengthened partnerships – between developing and developed countries, between governments and industry, between IMO Member States and regions. I will also endeavour to strengthen communication between the maritime industry and the general public, I see IMO acting as a bridge between all these stakeholders in what I have referred to as “a voyage together”.
For my part, I plan to concentrate on several overarching objectives:
- effective implementation of international conventions and regulations
- building capacity in developing countries, particularly small island developing States and least developed countries
- promoting IMO’s global status
- contributing to shared growth for all Member States
- the efficient performance of the Secretariat.
As the servant of the Member States and on behalf of the Secretariat, I will work proactively to ensure that, through consensus and cooperation among its Member States, IMO continues to develop and deliver on its mission.”
