The Port of Antwerp signed an agreement with Enabel, the Belgian development agency, to collaborate in order to achieve more sustainable development for ports in developing countries.
The partnership between Antwerp Port Authority and Enabel, the Belgian development agency, aspires to view a sustainable increase for ports in developing countries.
Ports play an important role in Belgium as they are a part of its supply chain and work as engines of the economic development. Enabel, aspires that with this collaboration ports will be:
- More efficient by providing advice and training;
- Have improvement facilities;
- Boost the country’s supply chain;
- Increase the employment.
The collaboration was signed in Port House by Jacques Vandermeiren, CEO of Antwerp Port Authority, Kristof Waterschoot, Managing Director of PAI, and Jean Van Wetter, CEO of Enabel. The goal of the agreement is to combine the forces of all three organisations so as to permit closer collaboration with a view to sustainable development of ports in developing countries.
According to Jean Van Wetter, Enabel CEO, the shipping transportation plays a crucial role to the global development. The volume of freight carried between West Africa and the port of Antwerp amounts to 15 million tonnes annually. 13 out of Enabel’s 14 partner countries are located in Africa, and many of these have coasts with major ports. Making their port management more efficient, both on the import and on the export side, is of big importance for future-oriented, sustainable development.
Moreover, the port of Antwerp has the highest number of direct services to West Africa amongst the other ports in North-West Europe.
As Kristof Waterschoot, Managing Director of PAI, addressed, this collaboration with Enabel will make it possible for them to provide further support for existing projects and to set up new agreements for potential collaboration arrangements. In this way they will be able to transfer their expertise to ports in developing countries, enabling them to further develop themselves in a sustainable way.
Finally, earlier this year the World Ports Sustainability Programme Charter was signed, based on the 17 Sustainable Development Goals defined by the United Nations.
