INCHEON -- Maritime industry experts and businessmen from home and abroad will gather in the western port of Incheon this week to attend a forum on the industry's future, organizers said Monday.

The two-day Incheon International Ocean Forum (IIOF) 2021 is to kick off at Songdo Convensia in Incheon, just 40 kilometers west of Seoul, on Wednesday under the theme of "The World Calls, The Ocean Waves."

It will be hosted by the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries and the Incheon metropolitan government and organized by the Incheon Port Authority and South Korea's key newswire Yonhap News Agency. Incheon is home to Incheon International Airport, South Korea's main gateway, and Incheon Port, the nation's second-largest seaport.

Minister of Oceans and Fisheries Moon Seong-hyeok, Incheon Mayor Park Nam-choon and Cho Sung-boo, president and CEO of Yonhap News Agency, will also attend the opening ceremony.

The forum will have five regular sessions -- the future strategy of global supply chain management, artificial intelligence (AI) and smart ports, port network, ocean environment and ocean tourism -- and one special session on port design.

Canadian author and environmentalist Naomi Klein and Whang Seung-jin, a professor of Stanford Business School, will deliver keynote speeches on ways to overcome the climate crisis and the management of maritime logistics networks.

On Wednesday, participants will exchange views on the importance and direction of supply chain management and discuss the need to apply AI technology in managing ports.

Port authority heads of such ports as Incheon, Canada's Vancouver, American's Long Beach, Le Havre of France and China's Shenzhen will discuss the future strategy of ports during the second-day session.

Friday's ocean environment session will deal with responses to climate change and discuss strategies for the development of the so-called circular economy by harnessing maritime resources.

The ocean tourism session will concentrate on the effect of coronavirus vaccines on the global marine tourism ecosystem and future development strategies.

Given the ongoing spread of the coronavirus pandemic, the upcoming forum will take place in a hybrid fashion that combines the in-person Songdo Convensia events and online discussions, organizers said. (Yonhap)