Israel, as the geographical junction that connects Europe, Asia and Africa, is proud to host the conference that aims to connect the major ports of the world through the common platform created by the International Association of Ports and Harbors. The International Association of Ports and Harbors is a global alliance of over 230 ports in 90 countries which together handle well over 60% of the world's sea-borne trade and nearly 80% of the world container traffic.
The 2012 Mid-Term Conference will be held at the Inbal Hotel in the center of Jerusalem. The standard format of the conference is being slightly modified to enhance the program.

The first day of the conference will feature meetings of the ten professional committees of the IAPH covering the following disciplines: Safety, Security, Environment, Planning and Design, Operations and Logistics, Trade Facilitation, Training, Legal and Long Term Planning. The agendas of the various committees will be published in advance in order to allow greater participation of non-members.

The second and third days will feature presentations on global trade trends, their impact on the shipping and port infrastructure requirements and the funding of such development projects.

Other sessions will cover the evolving role of the Port Authority, capacity evaluation, competition, customer service, port-community relations and the latest port environmental issues. In addition to standard presentations, a workshop session will be held during which conference participants will have the option to join a discussion on how to prepare a strategic master plan, how to measure port contributions to a regional economy, tendering of engineering and construction projects or a special session on advancing the role of women in the port industry.