Thanos Pallis is the President of the International Association of Maritime Economists (IAME). A Professor in Port Economics & Policy at the University of the Aegean, Greece, he is the co-director of PortEconomics, and the scientific director of the Jean Monnet Action on European Port Policy, and the Vice-Chair of the Port Performance Research Network (PPRN). He is currently the chief consultant of the UN program on “COVID-19 Response on Transport/Connectivity and Trade” (2020-2021) and a member of the International Association of Ports & Harbours (IAPH) Risk & Resilience Committee. Thanos served as General Secretary for Ports & Port Policy, in Greece and secretary general of MedCruise (2013-17), the association representing more than 100 cruise ports in 20 countries. He has worked in shaping ports and maritime logistics in North America (e.g. Port Performance Indicators and Benchmarks,; Atlantic Gateway Research Initiative; Port governance reforms; the Association of American Port Authorities Port Customer Service Initiative); in South America on container port development and port governance; in Asia defining national maritime strategies (Turkey; Bangladesh); in Africa on port privatisation and concessions); in Europe for OECD and Cruise Europe on cruise ports and for the European Commission, the European Seaports Organisation (ESPO), national governments and European ports on port issues. Thanos co-authors the IAPH-WPSP Port Economics Impact Barometer and the book Port Economics, Management and Policy to be published by Routledge in 2021