Friday, 13 October, Cornelder de Moçambique held the “Beira Corridor Business Forum”, a meeting that brought together national and foreign participants, with an emphasis on the southern African region.
The forum marked the 25th anniversary of Cornelder’s management of the Port of Beira and essentially served as an opportunity for those present to discuss the current situation and possible solutions to existing problems.
The Executive Managing-Director of CdM, Jan de Vries, highlighted the 25-year history of Cornelder de Moçambique, the challenges faced and the investments made in recent years, in human resources, machinery and development programmes, which have completely modernised the services provided at the Port of Beira. He requested all stakeholders to harmonise their operating systems in order to help further develop the Port of Beira.
The Minister of Transport and Communications, Mateus Magala, and the Secretary of State for Sofala, Cecília Chamutota, praised the efforts made by CdM over the last 25 years and the significant investments made in recent years, which have led to the Port of Beira being classified by the World Bank as the most efficient in southern Africa in terms of containerised cargo performance.
Magala challenged CdM’s management to work towards achieving an annual throughput of one million TEUs (Twenty-Foot Equivalent Units) at its Container Terminal over the next 15 years, which are already guaranteed for the continued management of the Port of Beira.
At the moment, CdM handles around 300,000 TEUs a year and its goal is to more than double this volume to reach 700,000 TEUs annually in the next few years.
Reacting to the Minister of Transport and Communications’ challenge, CdM’s Deputy Executive Director, António Libombo, noted that in order to reach one million TEUs, CdM’s initial target of handling 700,000 TEUs a year must first be reached.
Source: Cornelder de Moçambique