Hamad Port, the largest port in the region, made country proud again by reaching a milestone of handling one million Twenty-Foot Equivalent Units (TEUs) containers on Monday.
This feat, accomplished just under 14 months, not only reflects the tremendous growth this mega port has witnessed in past one year, but also demonstrates its crucial role in defeating unjust siege imposed on Qatar since June 5 last year.
The $7.4bn Port plans to achieve the next one million container by the end of this year. Lauding the achievement, Minister of Transport and Communications H E Jassim bin Saif Al Sulaiti said that this achievement, under the current exceptional circumstances, would not have been possible without Emir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani’s vision and Prime Minister and Interior Minister H E Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa Al Thani’s unlimited support.
Hamad Port has marked the handling of one million TEUs coming from regional and global seaports via 22 direct navigation routes and around 120 navigation destinations.
Mwani Qatar along with partners has also successfully launched 22 direct shipping routes between Hamad Port and several regional and international seaports and some 120 navigation destinations.
The Minister of Transport and Communications said that the synergy of efforts among all stakeholders has played a key role in boosting productivity and accelerating handling operations.
On the same day, speaking at the Advisory Council regular weekly session, the Minister Minister of Economy and Commerce H E Sheikh Ahmed bin Jassim Al Thani said Qatar had overcome various challenges of supply to the domestic market and the movement of ports and airports by strengthening existing business lines and developing new and direct lines with a number of strategic trading partners around the world, benefiting from the strategic facilities of the country such as Hamad Port and Hamad International Airport.
Owing to wise and timely decisions taken by Qatar’s leadership in the face of unjust blockade, country’s foodstuffs and live animals imports increased by 29.8 percent in the fourth quarter of 2017, in comparison to the same period in 2016, while food and beverages imports during the mentioned period increased by 28.7 percent.
Apart from turning Hamad Port into a vibrant trade hub of region and establishing new shipping lines to meet country’s needs, the leadership has taken a number of pivotal steps to thwart plans of siege countries to inflict heavy damages to Qatar’s robust economy.
Qatar has offered numerous investment opportunities for the development and operation of private businesses as well as a number measures have been taken to promote tourism .
A number of legislative amendments such as the public-private partnership law, the state strategic stock law, the national product protection law, and the unified economic registry law and brokerage law have also been introduced to continue country’s march towards glory.
