2022 Valedictorian Speech by Mr. Mohamed Walid Ben Ghachem, Director of Communication and Public Relations, The Tunisian Civil Aviation and Airports Authority

Good Day/ Bonjour /يومكم سعيد

It is my pleasure to address you today in the name of this year’s AMPAP graduating class of 2022. Fifteen years ago, in 2007, the first edition of this program was launched jointly by the ICAO and the ACI, and it is a great pleasure to see this year’s celebration taking place in Montreal, the world’ s capital of civil aviation.

Our celebration this year is special as it comes in the midst of our industry’s recovery from the effects of Covid 19 pandemic and after two difficult years, during which we have seen airports without passengers, planes grounded on the tarmac, crew and staff without a job and a frightened world. The threat of Covid 19 is still there, however, this is our time to work and progress and as mindful as we are with the threats, it is up to us to advance our industry and make it shine again.

Antoine Saint Exupéry said something that marked me personally, something that we all witnessed during the Airport Commercial and Financial Management course and that revolves on “The key strategic vision for success in any airport governance scenario”.  He said, “If you want to build a ship, don’t drum up people to collect wood and don’t assign them tasks and ask them to work, but rather teach them to long for the endless immensity of the sea”. For me, that quote applies strongly to the curriculum we had, whether for the four mandatory courses or the two elective ones. Indeed, we were able to acquire a strategic approach to the different functional areas of the airport business in compliance with the Standards and recommended Practices and the Best practices backed by ICAO and ACI. In fact, now we have to implement this approach in our airports in order to promote adherence to uniform industry requirements all over the world.

This is why I believe that we owe our success to the commitment of ICAO, ACI and the entire AMPAP team, who have always been innovative leaders in the aeronautical sector, striving for excellence in academic and pedagogical training. This success would not have been possible without the mobilization of all the experts who accompanied this class and were always present to support it. Today we can proudly express our sincere thanks to all our instructors for their dedication whether during the lessons or even when we asked for their advice in the professional life.

To my fellow graduates, we have worked hard to reach this success and our diligence has paid off. Continue with the same spirit and put your eyes on the prize, it will take us some time and we need to keep our shoulders to the wheel in our ongoing journey, but we will eventually achieve greatness. Our graduation is but a step in a journey that we should not forget that we are part of a network of airport management professionals whom we can rely on and we are the ones who are contributing to shaping and strengthening our industry. We will pursue to make  our airports a better gateway for people to travel to new places, to see different cultures, explore other civilizations and meet with extraordinary people. I wish you all success in this journey.

Our sincere thanks also go to the families and people who have been supporting us behind the scenes, we appreciate everything they have been doing for us. Just allow me address a special dedication to my daughter who always wondered why her dad had so many lessons to revise and was still taking exams!!! You are the jewel of my life and the light that always shows me the way.

In closing, please join me in applauding my fellow colleagues and graduates. We are proud to join the IAP community and together we can strive towards achieving safer, more efficient and environmentally friendly airports across the globe.

Congratulations / Félicitations /تهانينا