China merchants port invested 23.5% of djibouti port co., LTD (PDSA) in 2013, launched the multi-function dock project of multiple Halley in 2014, and put into production in May 2017. Djibouti is located in the west bank of the gulf of Aden, which is the route of major international shipping routes. Djibouti port is the main seaport of Ethiopia. As a regional transit center, it is the core port serving the main shipping routes between Asia and Europe. It has the potential to become the future shipping center of East Africa. After DMP was put into operation, the operation mode of traditional host port in djibouti was changed. The dock facilities include 6 multi-functional berths of 10-100,000-ton class and the working ship dock including a tugboat dock and a floating dock berth, with a total length of 1375m coastline and a depth of 15.3m at the front of the dock. The designed annual throughput reaches 7.08 million tons of bulk groceries and 200,000 TEU, and 2.85 million bulk groceries and 50,000 TEU will be completed in 2018. DMP investment has significantly enhanced djibouti port's comprehensive competitiveness and regional impact, creating a future international shipping hub by improving service quality and reducing customer costs.
With the support and cooperation of the djibouti government, the international free trade zone of djibouti DIFTZ is an effective exploration of overseas comprehensive development mode of "qianport-central-houcheng" by China merchants group. The overall development goal of DIFTZ is to build a new engine for djibouti's development and make djibouti a financial, shipping and trade center in East Africa. The park operator will copy the successful experience of domestic parks, take DIFTZ as the main carrier, and provide all-round platform support for Chinese smes to "go global" by building an international standard "hard environment" and "soft environment". The planned total area of the park is 48.2 square kilometers, including 6 square kilometers in the first phase, and 2.4 square kilometers in the first phase. It includes the trade and logistics park, export processing zone and commercial auxiliary zone. The industry orientation is mainly trade and trade, logistics and light processing industries. The project started construction in January 2017 and was put into operation in July 2018. Currently, 66 enterprises have entered the park.