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MoU with Belgium on port development

Shruthi Krishnan

— Photo: V. Ganesan

SOUTH WELCOMEs: A.C. Muthiah, Honorary Consul of Belgium and SPIC chairman, presenting a bouquet to Belgium’s King Albert II at a business forum organised by the Federation of Enterprises in Belgium and Southern India Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Chennai on Monday.

CHENNAI: Marking a new step towards enhanced Indo-Belgium cooperation in the area of port development, a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed on Monday between the Chennai Port and the Port of Zeebrugge in Belgium to create a greener port in Chennai. “We can learn from their experience,” said Chennai Port Trust Chairman K. Suresh.

He was speaking at a forum on Belgian-Indian Cooperation in Port Activities held here on Monday organised by the Federation of Enterprises in Belgium and the Southern Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SICCI). Belgium King Albert-II graced the occasion.

Clean cargo port

The Port of Zeebrugge had successfully moved away from coal and iron ore towards cars, containers and other such clean cargoes. The MoU was to exchange ideas, technology and other inputs from the Port of Zeebrugge by which the Chennai Port too could become a clean cargo port, said Mr. Suresh.

Another MoU was signed between SICCI and The Belgo-Indian Chamber of Commerce for cooperation in port development and protection of environment, said SICCI secretary S. Raghavan. The first step would be to explore different ways of enhancing mutual cooperation, he said.

A panel discussion was held where CEOs from India and Belgium, including Eddy Bruyninckx, CEO of the Port of Antwerp; Joachim Coens, Chairman and Managing Director of the Port of Zeebrugge; Alain Bernard, CEO of DEME, a company that specialises in dredging; Christian Leysen, CEO of Ahlers and Chairman of the University of Antwerp Management School; K. Suresh, Chairman of Chennai Port Trust; and Tej Preeth Chopra, President and CEO, GE India participated.

Areas of cooperation

In the concluding remarks, Rudi Thomaes, CEO of the Federation of Enterprises in Belgium, said that there could be five major areas of cooperation between India and Belgium.

These would be in dredging, evolving sophisticated methods of training, exchange of best practices to reduce ecological footprint of logistical activities, more involvement in infrastructure development in India and increasing Belgian consultation in port activities.

The King and his wife Paola later called on Governor Surjit Singh Barnala and a dinner was hosted in their honour at the Governor’s residence.

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