Photo: ZMPG S.A/ Tomasz Jastrzębowski
Economy
expanding the road and railway system and improving access to terminals in the deep-water part of the Port. We are going to complete the two projects in 2020.” The Port of Gdansk Authority is also preparing two huge projects which will completely change the Port’s appearance. The first one is the construction of a Central Port, one of the largest and most innovative projects in the history of European ports. The modern Central Port, covering more than 500 hectares and provided with specialist terminals for handling general and bulk cargo, will have a handling capacity of over 100 million tonnes annually. The opportunities offered by this project have attracted the interest of Chinese Ambassador to Poland Liu Guangyuan. The second project is the North Quay where motor vehicles, railway wagons and other rolling stock are to be handled. The two projects are a response to an increasingly fast expansion of international goods trade and the undoubtedly growing role which the Port of Gdansk plays in it, especially when it comes to serving the Central and Eastern European market. The Port of Gdansk is a corridor for the transport of goods from the Far East, especially China. Cooperation between China and Gdansk has continued uninterruptedly for more than 15 years. Ningbo, Qingdao and Guangzhou - successive Chinese ports are joining the group of partners. It comes as no surprise because the port of Gdansk is a gateway to European markets for Asia. It has direct and regular transoceanic connections with the Far East. The Port of Gdansk is one of the cheapest transport corridors to Europe in the world. At present, the Port of Gdansk is serviced by two lines: Maersk Line and Ocean Alliance. Gdansk’s favourable location in the heart of Europe is not the only reason why its cooperation with Chinese partners is gaining momentum. The Port of Gdansk has modern infrastructure – it is the only
Baltic port able to accommodate the world’s biggest container vessels with a capacity of over 21,500 TEU. “We have regular transoceanic connections with Chinese ports,” says Chief Marketing Officer at the Port of Gdansk Authority Patryk Felmet. “We have an increasingly important position on Asian markets and more and more of local businesses are becoming convinced that the Port of Gdansk is not only faster, but also cheaper when it comes to goods handling than, say, German ports.” To make its partnership with China even closer, the Port of Gdansk Authority has opened in Shanghai its own office, from which further projects are coordinated. Such companies as China Merchants, Cosco, China Communications Construction Company, ZMPC, Steel Searchers and many others are interested in the opportunities offered by the Port of Gdansk. “We have here our own worker who excellently knows the needs and requirements of the Chinese market,” says Patryk Felmet. “We want to encourage the Chinese to redirect their cargo to the Port of Gdansk because it is simply profitable for them. Apart from that, we are in the process of implementing huge investment projects. The biggest of them, the Central Port, is still ahead of us. We would like to find partners to carry out these plans.” The Port of Gdansk is becoming a key point on the logistics map for the Asian market and has a regular presence at the largest trade fairs in Shenzen, Shanghai and Hong Kong. •
Contact our office in Shanghai: e-mail: Mateusz.Dawidowski@portgdansk.pl tel.: +86 182 1742 6960 10/2018 polish market
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