KCCI organises interaction of Antwerp Port facilities to traders

Mangalore Today News Network

Mangaluru, Sep 23, 2018: Representatives of Antwerp Port in Belgium on Sept 22, Saturday asked traders and forwarders in Karnataka to make use of facilities at their port to effectively and economically reach out to countries in the European Union.

 

During an interactive session organised by the Kanara Chamber of Commerce and Industry here, Raj Khalid, representative of the port in India, said Antwerp was one among the seven major ports of Belgium competing against one another for being a gateway to 28 countries in the European Union and other countries. “Unlike our competitors, our port has representatives posted across the globe to talk to customers and offer services that are needed,” he said and added, “We provide simple answers to you. It will be a happy experience for you all,” the representative  Khalid said.

He said running cargo through Antwerp Port will be cost-effective to reach countries in the European Union. The warehousing cost of the port was the lowest among the major ports. He said some of the Indian firms dealing with chemicals and steels have opened their warehouses in Antwerp Port that was helping them in quickly supplying material to their customers.

Malini Dutt, another Indian Representative of the port, said the port was annually handling 223 million tonnes of freight of which India accounts for 7.2 million tonnes.

The commodities included marine products, coffee, cashew and chemicals. Apart from five deep sea container terminals, the port has two million cubic metres of temperature-controlled soft commodity warehousing for products such as coffee, she said.

President and Vice-President of KCCI Vathika Pai and P.B. Abdul Hameed, respectively, also spoke.