WASHINGTON: Having started several direct shipping lines from the newly-opened Hamad Port to major sea ports in India, Pakistan and Turkey, and nearly a dozen more destinations in the pipeline, Qatar will soon tap the port’s ‘re-exporting potential’, market experts told The Peninsula. Qatar’s state-of-the-art port is certainly going to act as a catalyst to the country’s economic diversification. The port will offer great value proposition to the local economy, said a top official of Qatar’s leading logistics company, yesterday. “Hamad Port’s strong capabilities, modern facilities, and advanced systems are leading to position Qatar as a re-export hub in the region, increasing the volume of trade between Qatar and the rest of the world. The port will allow private sector businessmen to increase the flow of goods to and from the country, facilitating both trade and advancing entrepreneurship for the savvy trader,” said Ranjeev Menon, Group CEO of GWC. Ranjeev added: “Qatar has witnessed multiple improvements and innovations in this field, some being the PPP projects awarded by the government. GWC Bu Sulba Warehousing Park is a successful example of modern Government developmental strategies, and private sector’s deploying international standards and local knowledge to its best application.”
Hamad Port is expected to be instrumental in the shipping of products that companies handle for clients, in addition to allowing service providers to offer their expertise in the development and management of cargoes, which is expected to reach 7.5 million TEUs at Port’s full capacity. Qatar’s transport sector is one of the major contributors to the country’s GDP. But the sector is currently dominated by air transport due to the rapid the expansion of Qatar Airways and the opening of Hamad International Airport in 2014. However, the opening of the multi-billion dollar new port facility, the contribution of maritime transport to the sector is expected to witness a sharp increase.
According to official data, the maritime transport sector, over the last few years, has also expanded its services significantly resulting a remarkable increase in its contribution. The total revenues from the segment (maritime transport) grew to QR6.1bn in 2015 from QR3.7bn in 2010, accounting for 12 percent of the transport sector’s total revenue of QR46.5bn in 2015, compared to QR25.6bn in 2010. The transport sector witnessed an annual increase of 13 percent. The land transport sector has also expanded, with total revenues of QR3.3bn in 2015, a 75 percent increase in revenues compared to 2010. The expansion of the logistics sector is being supported by the measures taken by the government and the implementation of projects to improve the efficiency of the sector. GWC, the Doha-based shareholding company, which offers a full spectrum of quality solutions to a variety of industry verticals, is a major stakeholder in developing logistics parks and warehouses across the country.
