Within the Arab Academy for Science, Technology and Maritime Transport (AASTMT) role as a house of expertise in all scientific, maritime and practical disciplines, H.E Prof. Dr. Ismail Abdel Ghafar Ismail Farag - AASTMT President participated in the opening session of the "17th North Indian Ocean Hydrographic Commission - NIOHC" Conference that is hosted by Egypt during the period 17 - 20 July 2017, as for the first time with the participation of 8 Member States and four Associate Member States representing the Regional Committee of the North Indian Ocean Countries other than observer countries, organizations and operating companies.The opening session of the 17th Meeting of North Indian Ocean Hydrographic Commission (NIOHC) was held on Monday 17- 7- 2017, in Cairo – Egypt, in the presence of H.E Prof. Dr. Hisham Arafat – Egyptian Minister of Transport, H.E General Khaled - Commander of the Egyptian Naval Forces, as well as a group of high-level government officials.