UAE President Officially Launches Khalifa Port

Speaking at Taweelah – the site of Abu Dhabi’s megaproject of Khalifa Port and Khalifa Industrial Zone Abu Dhabi (Kizad), President His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan honoured Abu Dhabi Ports Company (ADPC) by expressing his pride at the completion of projects that are of benefit to the citizens of the UAE and that strengthen the national economy.

He made his remarks when inaugurating ADPC’s state of the art new Khalifa Port, north-east of Abu Dhabi City, which with Kizad will form part of one of the world’s largest industrial zones within twenty years. Its first phase has been built at a cost of AED 26.5 billion (USD 7.2 billion) Khalifa Port has now taken over all of Mina Zayed’s TEU container traffic and is expected to break cargo records with its paperless, digital high-technology. It features, for instance, the only semi-automated container terminal for 5,000 kilometres.

The high-level inauguration was also attended by the Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, His Highness General Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, and H.H. Sheikh Hamdan bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Ruler’s Representative in the Western Region. Diplomats and leading business people and industrialists also attended.

The President added that the inauguration of the flagship project, the largest infrastructure exercise in Abu Dhabi, and built to the latest international standards in technology, represents a landmark in the process of modernisation and development being achieved in the United Arab Emirates through the efforts of Emiratis benefitting from and taking advantage of international expertise.

He also said that the country provides the necessary support for the maritime transport industry, particularly Khalifa Port, which, when its anticipated future phases of construction have been completed, will become one of the most important ports for trade in the region and the entire Middle East, benefiting from the UAE’s strategic location to act as a link between the economic regions of the world, serving two billion potential customers in four time zones

”The opening of this flagship project strengthens our progress towards completion of the Abu Dhabi Economic Vision 2030 with confident steps and will also contribute to the continuation of the high rate of growth witnessed by the UAE, meeting the aspirations of the country’s citizens for a significant base for the national economy,” the President said, in a speech at the inauguration of the Port at its container terminal, where one of the largest container ships in the world, the CSCL Uranus, with 14,000 TEUs aboard, is currently berthed

”The UAE is determined to implement large-scale projects to support the development of the national economy,’‘ the President added, noting that this would strengthen the status of the UAE within the global economy.

HH Sheikh Khalifa expressed his appreciation for the national effort that had been displayed in the completion of the project, adding: ”Supporting and developing our human resources and making use of them, in different specialisations, so that they may play their role in the development of the country, is a priority for us.” He wished all the staff of Khalifa Port and its parent company, Abu Dhabi Ports Company, good luck in their work, so that the best possible benefit could be made of its enormous potential, making Khalifa Port a lifeline connecting the UAE with the rest of the world.

[mappress]

Press Release, December 13, 2012