Hamad Port since its official inauguration in September last year has proved to be a game changer in the region and also helped the country tremendously to beat the possible impact of the siege.
Qatar has been witnessing a remarkable development boom in various sectors, especially in ports and logistics sector, which has played a major role in enhancing Qatar’s global competitiveness in the field of maritime transport and operation of ports.
Hamad Port has already acquired 28 percent share in the volume of trade in the Middle East. According to recently shared official statistics, the direct return on the national economy as a result of the transport of containers through Hamad Port amounted to about QR2.5bn in 2017.
From June 2017 until the end of August 2018, the volume of container handling at Hamad Port increased by 366 percent, general cargo handling soared by 450 percent and the number of vessels grew by 70 percent.
The share of Hamad Port in the volume of trade in Qatar in terms of exports and imports has reached 95 percent, which makes the Port an important hub of the economy and contributes effectively to people’s daily lives.
Hamad Port currently connects more than 40 ports with over 24 shipping services and offers a wide range of guaranteed and reliable options for its customers. Hamad Port has achieved another milestone as it received more than 1,000 vessels in eight months of the current year.
It also played a major role in securing the needs of local markets and projects implemented by the state, ensuring access of Qatari products to the global markets.
Now, 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.
Minister of Transport and Communications H E Jassim bin Saif Al Sulaiti has said that 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.
The Minister was speaking to media persons at signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between QTerminals and the China Harbour Engineering Company (CHEC) to create joint employment opportunities and investments between the two sides around the world.
The Minister said that QTerminals will receive the charge of management of Al Ruwais Port soon smoothly as per the schedule made by the 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.
