H E Jassim bin Saif Al Sulaiti (second left), Minister of Transport and Communications; Neville Bissett (left), CEO of QTerminals; Li Chen (second right), Ambassador of the People’s Republic of China to Qatar; and Tang Qiaoliang, Director of China Harbour
DOHA: The second phase of development of Hamad Port will be announced before the end of this year and the implementation of the project will start by early 2019.
The port will witness important development in the second phase, especially as work for the current phase in terms of equipment, operation and clearance have been completed, said Minister of Transport and Communications H E Jassim bin Saif Al Sulaiti.
The Minister was speaking to media persons yesterday on the sidelines of the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU0 between Qterminals, and the China Harbour Engineering Company (CHEC), to create joint employment opportunities and investments between the two sides around the world.
QTerminals signed MoU with China Harbour Engineering Company (CHEC), a leading provider of full services in Engineering-Procurement-Construction (EPC), Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT), and Public-Private-Partnership (PPP) for both public and private sectors.
The MoU signing ceremony was held at the Ministry of Transport and Communication in the presence of officials from both sides.
The Minister stressed that QTerminals has proven its competence in managing Hamad Port and placing it in the ranks of international ports. "We are now embarking on a joint effort with the Chinese side and specifically with CHEC to find investment opportunities in world ports that support our work and our expansion and investment objectives," he said.
On the latest developments in the expansion of Hamad Port, Al Sulaiti said that the second phase will be announced before the end of this year and the "port will witness an important development in the second phase, especially as the port works for the current phase in terms of equipment, and the operation of receiving shipments and clearance have been completed, making Hamad Port one of the most efficient international ports."
Minister of Transport and Communications H E Jassim bin Saif Al Sulaiti said Qterminals will receive the charge of management of Al Ruwais Port soon smoothly as per the schedule made by two sides. “We want a smooth operation at these ports because they are considered lifeline for Qatar which could not be stopped,” said the Minister.
Qatar and China have a strategic partnership that is conducive to cooperation in all fields, and ports are one of those important areas, said Ambassador of China to Qatar, Li Chen.
“We have well experienced companies in many fields and are fully prepared to participate in the field of investment in ports or other fields related to infrastructure,” said Li.
He said this is part of the China’s Belt and Road Initiative, pointing out that Qatar was one of the first countries to have expressed its willingness to participate in this initiative.
“There are 15 giant Chinese companies operating in Qatar participating in the infrastructure development of the country,” said the ambassador adding that both countries intended to increase the investment.
The two parties shall agree on the working mechanisms concerning funding, design, construction, operation and management of the opportunities to be discussed and agreed upon by both companies.
The MoU also strengthens cooperation between the two companies in the framework of their mutual terms of reference, to provide the necessary resources and support to achieve the intended objectives of this cooperation. Moreover, the two parties intend to hold regular meetings and form task force to implement their plan of action within a specific time frame.
QTerminals is a terminal operating company jointly established by Qatar Ports Management Company (Mwani Qatar- 51 percent) and Qatar Navigation (Milaha- 49 percent) to provide container, general cargo, RORO, livestock and offshore supply services in Phase 1 of Hamad Port, Qatar’s gateway to world trade.
