Inaugural port conference to discuss trade flow

IN a bid to bring together experts and investors involved in logistics, shipping, ports, terminals, inland transport and equipment manufacturering, KZN will next month host a terminal operators conference, the first of its kind on the African continent.

The conference on 5 and 6 December in Durban bodes well for the province’s growth aspirations in using its two world-class deep-water ports in Durban and Richards Bay to bolster its maritime economy.

While the Port of Richards Bay is one of the leading coal terminals in the world, the Durban Container Terminal is the biggest and busiest in the southern hemisphere.

MEC for Economic Development, Tourism and Environmental Affairs, Sihle Zikalala, said this world-class trade exhibition and networking conference comes at an opportune time, coinciding with big-ticket investment undertakings in the country to expand the capacity of its major commercial ports to support the projected increases of cargo.

‘The conference is an ideal platform for KZN to showcase to the world the vast array of investment opportunities and capabilities on offer at its world-class ports, which also have an established history as the gateway into the rest of Africa,’ he said.

The aim of the conference is to get all stakeholders involved to discuss improving trade flows across the continent.