25años • 25 years
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NUESTRO EQUIPO
DR. HUGO TORRIJOS RICHA:
ARCHITECT OF MARITIME DEVELOPMENT IN PANAMA
PANAMA IS A MARITIME COUNTRY PAR EXCELLENCE. IT ´ S GEOGRAPHICAL FATE HAS BEEN DECISIVE IN THE COURSE OF ITS HISTORY AND IT ´ S CONTRIBUTION TO THE WORLD AS A GLOBAL HUB AND TRANSIT IS UNDOUBTEDLY A FACT THAT THE WORLD IS INCREASINGLY RECOGNIZED.
As always, behind every major national achievement, there are leaders from different angles have consolidated ideas and have made real their vision, transforming realities. Dr. Hugo Torrijos Richa is one of those leaders whose contribution to the Panamanian maritime industry has been substantial at a time when both the private and public sectors were in the process of composition in order to form what is now recognized as the National Maritime Strategy enshrined in the axis of the State, organizations and private companies.
Talking of Dr. Torrijos path may be too long because of his prolific and intense trajectory. His career has been supported by studies of Law and Political Science at the University of Panama, International Law at the London Schools of Economics and Political Sciences and in the Complutense University of Madrid.
His assignments have been varied and numerous: Director Legal Counsel at the Ministry of Finance and Treasury; for 11 years he was Director General of Consular and Maritime, the governing body during that period of the Panamanian Merchant Marine. He was several times in charge of the Vice Ministry of Treasury. He was Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Panama, before the Panama Maritime Organization- IMO Representative of Panama to the Tripartite Commission( United States, Japan, Panama) for studies of alternatives to the Panama Canal.
He held the position of plenipotentiary representative of the Government of Panama to the meetings of the Conference of the United Nations on the conditions for the registration of ships in Geneva, Switzerland, which culminated in the signing of the United Nations Convention on conditions of registration of ships. He was also head of the delegation of Panama to the Tripartite Conference on Maritime Labour of the International Labour Organization ILO and Representative of the Government of Panama to the Operative Network for Regional Cooperation among Maritime Authorities of South America, Mexico and Panama( ROCRAM).
Dr. Torrijos was National Counterpart of United Nations Project called Development of Panama Maritime Sector; project that included counseling for five different government institutions related to the maritime sector. He also served as representative of IMO and corresponded participate by Panama in several of the sessions of the Third Conference of the United Nations on the Law of the Sea participated in all sessions done before within the UNCTAD and the Conference of United Nations Trade and Development, to promote the registration of ships and port efficiency in less developed countries. He was also advisor to the preparation of the Merchant Marine Act of Honduras; He advised the Bolivian government for the organization of the Merchant Navy and the government of Belize in the preparation of all the maritime law of that country. To end this summary, he was founder and president of Panama Maritime Group, which today celebrates its 25th anniversary; in addition to expressing their political commitment to the country and be a professor at the University of Panama.
Throughout this long career, Dr. Torrijos had milestones where their contribution was more substantial. As Director General of the National Port Authority from 1994 to 1998, he worked in the modernization and commercialization of the services of the National Port System, increasing the efficiency and competitiveness of operations for national and international maritime community, successfully integrating the private sector.
Mr. Fernando Solozano, Director General of Merchant Marine of the
Panama Maritime Authority, recalls the figure of Dr. Torrijos:“ Dr. Torrijos was the emblematic figure from the administrative point of view and of the fleet. In the early 90s, when the record began to emerge and strengthened as the first fleet or coats of arms in the world, the role of Dr. Torrijos was instrumental in getting the boats not to escape due to the military crisis 80’ s and inviting vessels to return to record after the US invasion.”
This action was also essential to strengthen the registration and to implement a semi autonomous infrastructure within the Ministry of Finance and Treasury and could attend important international regulations such as the amendments to the Marpol Convention; regulations relating to the issue of pollution from ships; regulations to the issue of ship mortgage and tariff issues allowing high competitiveness registration were introduced.
The lawyer Ashvath Ebrahim said in an article published in 2011:“ Over the years the registration of ships in the Panama became a source of tax revenue for the country- However, the lack of technical preparation of Panamanians in matters of the sea exposed the register to admit ships without seaworthiness. It was common, whenever an accident occurred at sea, the ship responsible was Panamanian registered. If the country had a character who could be called as the architect of maritime development in Panama( score that gave the magazine Fairplay) indisputably that honor is taken by Hugo Torrijos Richa. Its passage by the Consular and Vessels Division of the Ministry of Finance and Treasury was vital to implement international standards for Panamanian ships and lift the Panamanian registry in the seat number one in the world in which today is. Hugo Torrijos was not a perfect man, but within all its imperfections felt a passion for maritime business like no other Panamanian“.
Another significant milestone in its contribution to the maritime industry was the extensive discussion that took place on the Law of the Sea, where Dr. Torrijos had a very effective participation. Mr. Solorzano describes:“ Dr. Torrijos had the opportunity to express and explain very clearly what the mechanism of applicability of this convention that appeared to reduce the traditional and for many years current territorial sea of 200 miles to only 12 nautical miles, establishing a zone of sovereignty and direct economic exploitation to Panama was the exclusive economic zone and a system that would be world topic, so it would become part of international public policy that should be accepted by all states as is the case today.”
Likewise it was with the privatization and development of ports, where Dr. Hugo Torrijos, had a significant impact and in general in the consolidation of the National Maritime Strategy, raised in the year 98, which marked the vision of what the country considers should be the next steps in the consolidation of this, our maritime destination. That is the way he will always be remembered, as the architect who envisioned at sea, an inexhaustible source of progress for his country.