The establishment of the Djibouti New Free Trade Zone

CMPort signed investment agreement together with four companies

    15 November, "The Djibouti Free Trade Zone Investment Agreement" was signed by the representatives of five shareholders from the China side, namely Mr. Bai Jingtao, Managing Director of China Merchants Port Holdings Company Limited (CMPort), Mr. Zhang Zizhong, Managing Director of China Merchants Investment Company Limited, Mr. Yan Chengda, Senior consultant of China Merchants Shekou Holdings, Mr. Xu Jian, Vice Managing Director of The Dalian Port Group and Mr. Luofeng, Chairman of IZP Group. The agreement was signed under the witnesses of Mr. Abdoulkader Kamil Mohamed, Djibouti Prime Minister, Mr. Ge Hua, Commercial Counselor of the Chinese Embassy in Djibouti and Mr. Hu Jianhua, Vice President of China Merchants Group (CMG).

    The existing Free trade zone in Djibouti covers an area of 17 hectares, mainly engaged in traditional businesses like bonded warehousing and logistics, and has been saturated. The Djibouti new free trade zone project will be jointly develop by the Djibouti government, CMG, Dalian Port Group and IZP Group. The first phase of the project covers an area of 6 square kilometers, in which 2.4 square kilometers will be officially under construction in December 2016, and is expected to be available for operation on the second half of year 2017, presenting as an China-African cooperation demonstration project. The project will integrate the advantages of the shareholders through promoting industries such as trade logistics and export processing, to boost the economic development of Djibouti. Also, through the introduction of financial services, big data services, trade facilitation services and training services, to enhance the soft environment of Djibouti, in order to create a high-quality platform for the "One Belt One Road" practice. "The Djibouti Free Trade Zone Investment Agreement" is the fundamental agreement of the Djibouti free trade zone project, regulating the core issues of the development of the project. After the investment agreement is signed, there will be upcoming legal negotiations. The Djibouti government will also introduce or modify a number of legal documents, in order to adapt to the development needs of the free trade zone,and to protect the rights of investors. 

    Djibouti is an important node in the global trade routes, connecting the three big continents namely Asia, Europe and Africa. Thanks to the advanced geographical location of Djibouti port, it has become an important port of the East African region and the Red Sea Suez canal channel. In December 29, 2012, the indirect wholly-owned subsidiary of CMPort, China Merchants Holdings (Djibouti) FZE, has signed the share purchase agreement to buy 23.5% of the issued share capital of The Djibouti Port Company Limited with the Djibouti port and the Free Trade Zone Administration. The project investment is expected to be $580 million, the main contents include the construction of the main pier, boat dock, warehouse, auxiliary production buildings, roads and yards, with designed annual throughput of 7.8million tons and 200,000 TEUS. The new port is expected to be completed in February 2017, and the upcoming operation will be conduct by the cooperation of both sides.

    By taking the advantages of its superior geographical position and clear development plan, Djibouti is committed to become the  shipping center, logistics center, business and financial center of the East African Region, by presenting port development as the core, promote comprehensive development of production processing, trade logistics and financial services.