It is a great pleasure to express my sincere gratitude to IMLI and The Nippon Foundation for pledging their trust to me as a Georgian lawyer to apply to the Institute, and consider me as a deserving candidate to pursue studies in the Institute’s Master of Laws (LL.M.) programme in International Maritime Law. Studying at IMLI was beyond expectations and enabled a young government official to learn about the details of international maritime law and the real impact they may have on a country in global environment. Learning at IMLI gave me a tremendous opportunity not only obtain a specific knowledge of international maritime law, but also of the importance and necessity for new developments in all aspects. IMLI was also a great forum to make new friends from all over the world with their multicultural background. Above all, I am grateful that I was given unique opportunity for studying at IMLI and I deeply hope that this obtained knowledge will contribute to the development of my country and my future career as well.