The Grand opening ceremony of Djibouti Doraleh Multi-Purpose Port
Djibouti Doraleh Multi-Purpose Port (DMP), an indirectly investment of China Merchants Port Holdings Company Limited (CMPort), was ceremonially opened for operations on 24th May 2017. President of Djibouti Mr. Ismail Omar Ghelleh, President of Somali Mr. Mohamed Abdullah Mohamed, Chinese Ambassador of Djibouti Mr. Fu Huaqiang, Executive Vice President of China Merchants Group (CMG) Dr.Hu Jianhua, General Manager of Transport/International Department of CMG Mr.Li Zhong Han,General Manager of Regional Development Department of CMG Mr.Luo Hui Lai, Managing Director of CMPort Dr. Bai Jingtao, Deputy General Manager of Strategy Development of CMG Mr.Liu Zhi Min, Deputy General Manager of Logistic Department of CMG Mr.Liu Chang Song, and many other Chinese and overseas guests participated the ceremony.
On 24th May morning, two vessels "Gambella" of Ethiopia Shipping and "LE CONG" of COSCO Shipping berthed alongside the shoreline the brand new DMP, showing their respect by giving long whistle to the leaders of Somalia and Djibouti, as well as CMG and CMPort.
Dr. Hu Jianhua gave a speech in the ceremony stating that the commencement operation of DMP was a major milestone of the development of Djibouti. Meanwhile, the series of projects held by CMG and CMPort in Djibouti would further contribute to the development of the country. Dr. Hu also illustrated the future perspective of the cooperation between Djibouti, CMG and CMPort, including the old port reconstruction project.
The President of Djibouti Mr. Ismail Omar Ghelleh expressed his gratitude to the contribution made by CMG and CMPort to DMP and Djibouti. He highly appreciated the investment strategy of CMG and CMPort, and look forward to deepen the cooperation with CMG and CMPort.
Background Informations：
1. February 2013, CMPort’s wholly-owned subsidiary, China Merchants Holdings (Djibouti) FZE, acquired 23.5% shares of Port De Djibouti S.A. (PDSA) for USD185 million to participate in the restructuring of Djibouti port. With total investment cost of USD580 million, the construction of DMP started from August 2014 and completed in February 2017. The designed annual throughput of bulk cargo volume and the container volume are 7.08 million tons and 200,000 TEU respectively. The quay length is 1200 meters wide and the water is 15.3 meters depth, including six 100,000 tons-multi-functional berths.
2. DMP is equipped with advanced and efficient facilities, and adopted with a self-developed intelligent operating system which is designed by CMPort. With strong support from CMPort headquarter, Shenzhen West home port becomes the major training center of DMP. Improvement of efficiency will play an important role to the competitiveness of DMP in order to reduce the customers’ operating costs and build the East-African shipping center by enhanced service. Consequently, it will benefit on the port operating efficiency as well as the local employment.
3. Djibouti holds an important position in the west coast of Gulf of Aden, facing Mandab Strait, the door of the Red Sea South Gate; which is one of the major international routes radiating East Africa, the Middle East, the Red Sea and the west coast of India region.