DP World in talks with China on ‘One Belt, One Road’
Most of the Dubai-based operator’s ports and land and sea stations are on this route
DP World is holding talks and meetings with the Chinese government for more cooperation to fulfill the requirements of ‘One Belt, One Road’ initiative, said Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayem, chairman of DP World and chairman of Ports, Customs & Free Zone Corporation (PCFC), according to a recent report by UAE national news agency WAM.
“It is a development strategy and framework, proposed by Chinese government that focuses on connectivity and cooperation among countries primarily between the People’s Republic of China and the rest of Eurasia, which consists of two main components, the land-based ‘Silk Road Economic Belt’ (SREB) and ocean going ‘Maritime Silk Road’ (MSR),” he said.
Bin Sulayem believes it is important to cooperate with China and to develop DP World ports on the Silk Road. China is building six new routes that will connect it to the rest of the world. Most of DP World ports and land and sea stations (77 ports and stations worldwide) are located on the routes that China is building as part of this initiative.
He also reiterated the port operator’s ability to provide the best services to the Chinese trade industry. “We at DP World have developed our business strategies to be able to cater for different logistic and shipping services at all stages,” he added.
In a recent interview with Sky News Arabia, Bin Sulayem replied to a question about DP World’s performance in 2016 and 2017 by saying: “DP World grew its revenues in 2016 against all odds. The gains of the first 6 months were more than $600 million. The company will announce the total revenues for 2016 next March.”
Bin Sulayem expects maritime trade to improve in 2017, and is hopeful DP World will also do better.