Minister of Transport Lt. Gen. Kamel El-Wazir has witnessed the signing of a MOU between the Egyptian Ministry of Transport represented by Damietta Port Authority (DPA) and major European and German-based companies Contship Italia and Eurogate  in the field of Container handling terminals, dry ports and logistics.

The MOU aims to set up the biggest logistic system in Africa and the Middle East including  a container terminal in Damietta Port, a railway line , a dry port and a cargo distribution area with a total investment of € 750 million as a first phase.

El-wazir stated that the MOU looks for cooperation to set up a business model for the project implementation to achieve the economic development of Damietta Port and the surrounding area which shall contribute to the development of the Egyptian economy and help raise the competitiveness of Egyptian ports.

He pointed out that the project shall also contribute to making Damietta port a leading hub in the Eastern Mediterranean region, thus opening new markets for Egyptian exports by operating direct liner services for Egyptian exports and increasing the ability to compete with countries turning out  similar industrial products, adding that this project will also contribute to attracting foreign direct investments and positively impact the investment environment in Egypt.

El-wazir declared that the feasibility study and the proposed business model is expected to be completed within (4) months and that the new terminal will be ready for operation by the end of 2022.

Noteworthy that Eurogate, which operates 12 container terminals and a fleet of trains in 12 European countries, has handled 14.1 million teus worldwide in 2018 .

Eurogate’s latest project was the development of the port of Tangier ,Morocco and its economic zone. In two years’ time , the container traffic in Tangier grew from 1 million to 4 million containers.

Source : DPA Media Center