The Maritime Port Authority (MPA) held its first award ceremony for 23 recipients of the Global Internship Award (GIA) on 12 May 2014 at PSA Building.

First introduced in 2013, the MPA GIA partners maritime companies to promote manpower development in the maritime industry. Under this programme, high-achieving undergraduates from local universities are awarded a fully-sponsored, maritime-focused 10-week internship with international maritime companies with the opportunity to spend up to four weeks overseas.

The 10-week internship programme will take the students to 11 different countries covering the Asia-Pacific, Europe and Middle East regions and the United States of America.

A total of 4 NUS undergraduates received the MPA GIA this year, 3 of whom are Economics majors from FASS. Year 4 student Lee Xiang Zachary (Double Degree Programme in Business Administration/Economics) mentioned that he was honoured to be chosen as an intern, and eager to embark on this exciting new journey. He has been assigned an internship with Braemar Seascope Pte Ltd, and also spend 2 weeks at its Melbourne office.

Year 3 Economics major Tobias Leong Zhun Mun (University of North Carolina-NUS Joint Degree Programme) added that he was very grateful to be part of this programme and looked forward to entering the dynamic world of shipping with an internship at Eastport Shipping Pte Ltd. He will be spending a few weeks at the company’s Shanghai office.