2014
2014 CHINA GATEWAY WEST AFRICA
SANTA CRUZ TENERIFE MARCH 2014
INTRODUCING WEST AFRICA’S CHINA GATEWAY AT TENERIFE
The aigo Entrepreneurs Alliance was founded in 2011 to promote leading brands from China’s rapidly growing private sector. AEA is driven by the goal of helping more private Chinese businesses to become truly global enterprises and contributing corporate citizens worldwide.
During the visit the Chinese delegation commented on the Ports of the Spanish-owned island as an ideal gateway to Africa where China is acquiring a massive presence. China sources about two thirds of its imports from Angola, South Africa and Sudan.
The goal of ‘China Gateway’ is to create a “Home from Home” for Chinese companies going global by zoning areas in Ports specifically for Trade with China. The goal is to standardise the development of these parks in such a way to provide economies of scale, consistency, reliability, standardisation and add value to services rendered. Potentially ‘China Gateway’ will become a trademark associated with excellence in doing business with China.
The visit follows that of former President of China, Hu Jintao, who met the Deputy Prime Minister of Spain, Soraya Sáenz de Santamaria, on the Island in 2012 in an effort to strengthen economic bonds between the two countries which were already enjoying historic diplomatic highs. The visit was part of a larger tour which included visits to by the AEA to three of GIL’s Chairports, Zeebrugge, Cork and Tenerife to show that Port Centric investment provides a distinct advantage in planning global distribution and manufacturing systems.
The largest of the Canary islands, Tenerife boasts the most efficient stevedores in Spain with an average of 30 movements per hour. There are also ongoing plans to build a third port in the South of the Island near the Reina Sofía Airport – Granadilla de Abona with an industrial area of 1,800 m2
2014 CHINA GATEWAY ZEEBRUGGE
ZEEBRUGGE APRIL 2014
AIGO ENTREPRENEURS ALLIANCE EUROPEAN TOUR
The tour which included visits to 3 of GIL’s Chairports, Zeebrugge, Cork and Tenerife was designed to give AEA an insight in to the operation of ports in the Europe and West Africa, and to further convince them that Port Centric investment provides a distinct advantage in planning global distribution and manufacturing systems. GIL used the opportunity to introduce AEA to its China Gateways project and seek their support in their development.
The aigo Entrepreneurs Alliance was founded in 2011 to promote leading brands from China’s rapidly growing private sector. AEA is driven by the goal of helping more private Chinese businesses to become truly global enterprises and contributing corporate citizens worldwide.
The port of Zeebrugge has an ideal location to serve the markets of continental Europe as well as the British Isles. It is a young seaport with modern port equipment suitable for the largest ships. Total cargo traffic through the Port tripled from 14 million tonnes in 1985 to 43.5 million tonnes in 2012. The port of Zeebrugge has become, in barely a couple of decades, one of the most important entry ports for the European market.
The goal of ‘China Gateway’ is to create a “Home from Home” for Chinese companies going global by zoning areas in Ports specifically for Trade with China. The goal is to standardise the development of these parks in such a way to provide economies of scale, consistency, reliability, standardisation and add value to services rendered. Potentially ‘China Gateway’ will become a trademark associated with excellence in doing business with China.
There is a potential for world ports to cooperate on zoning part of their ports as China Gateways to assist both import and export trade with China. These will serve as a trading ‘Gateways’ into world markets and being Port Centric will benefit from excellent transport connectivity via road, rail, water and air. China Gateways will include Showroom Spaces, Warehousing/Storage and Assembly Facilities, and sell goods to the wholesale market.
To win Chinese investment requires a strong understanding of its business culture and particularly the emphasis placed on Cooperation and Collaboration between business partners. For this reason, the China Gateway concept has Chinese Characteristics relying for its success on str
2014 INSTITUTE MEMBERS SIGN SISTER PORT AGREEMENT
CORK MARCH 2014
INSTITUTE MEMBERS SIGN SISTER PORT AGREEMENT
In March 2014, a delegation from the Port of Shenzhen visited the Port of Cork to sign a Sister Port Agreement which will see both ports developing the trade and shipping business while deepening the understanding and relationship between each other. Signing took place in the Port of Cork offices during a two day visit of eleven delegates from Shenzhen to the Port of Cork.
The Port of Shenzhen and the Port of Cork are important ports in their respective regions and given the growth of the world’s shipping industry Shenzhen Port and the Port of Cork face common opportunities as well as challenges. The Port of Shenzhen is one of the busiest and fastest growing ports in southern mainland of the People’s Republic of China. Located in the southern region of the Pearl River Delta in Guangdong province, it is the economic hinterland for Hong Kong trade with the Mainland and also one of the most important ports in terms of China’s international trade.
Shenzhen port is home to 39 shipping companies with 131 international container routes. There are 560 ships on call at Shenzhen port on a monthly basis and also 21 feeder routes to other ports in the Pearl River Delta region.
This sister port agreement will see the leadership and management of both ports maintaining regular contact and will look to send staff for an exchange of visits to their respective ports to discuss issues of mutual benefit and further enrich the co-operation and collaboration between both ports. There will also be an agreement to recommend beneficial partners to each other.
“We have signed this sister port agreement with the Port of Shenzhen to the benefit of both ports. We anticipate much cooperation and exchanging of port expertise into the future and we know the Port of Cork can expect to learn a lot from Shenzhen in terms of international trade, port development and expanding our services.”
Chairman of the Port of Cork, John Mullins
He continued: “This really is an excellent opportunity for the Port of Cork and one we intend to maximise.” Both ports are committed to working together to draw upon the experience and business expertise between the them and broaden the exchange and co-operation between each other in the areas of port planning and building, operation and management, environmental protection, information technology, personnel training and port security.
During their visit to the Port of Cork, the delegates from Shenzhen visited the port facilities, Cork City and Cobh.
