Antwerp Focuses on India, China and Eastern Europe

 

This brings the number of port representatives to 12, reinforcing Antwerp's presence in its core hinterland and important overseas growth regions. The task of these representatives is to keep Antwerp "top of mind" with local companies, ports, chambers of commerce and other players.

 

With an annual freight volume of 6.4 million tonnes carried between it and the Indian ports, Antwerp is the European market leader for this region. India is one of the fastest-expanding economies in the world, with an annual growth rate of 7%.

 

Malini Dutt joins Raj Khalid, so that Antwerp now has two representatives in the port city of Mumbai. Malini lives in Mumbai and has already been professionally active for more than ten years in promotion of international trade with India. 

 

“The port of Antwerp is important not only for attracting new European markets for India, but also for its excellent deepsea connections with West Africa and Latin America. The latter two regions are also important growth markets for India," she explains.

 

Malini eagerly accepted the invitation from Antwerp Port Authority to represent the port in India: "Ports play a strategic role in the international expansion of any region, and Antwerp meets this requirement perfectly. Its interaction with all the links in the supply chain – including logistics service providers, freight handlers and shipping lines – enables it to act as an integrated service provider for the Indian companies."

 

Now that the port of Antwerp has demonstrated conclusively that it can easily handle even the very largest container carriers, it has experienced rapid growth in the number of shipping lines calling directly from Asia. The Chinese growth market remains the main source of trade with Europe.

 

Jan van der Borght has already represented the port of Antwerp in China for many years, and now he is joined by Robert Feng.

 

Robert Feng for his part has worked for more than 30 years in the Chinese shipping and logistics sector. He will represent the port of Antwerp in Taiwan, Hong Kong and the Chinese mainland. "I will mainly concentrate on contacts with the container shipping lines, logistics service providers and shippers in this region. By collaborating with them more intensively and showing them what innovative services the port of Antwerp has to offer, we will certainly be able to generate additional freight volume for Antwerp."

 

Martin Hubenack is the new port representative for the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Poland. 

 

These countries are located at the strategic crossroads of the East-West and North-South corridors within Europe, offering great potential for the logistics sector. The distance between these countries and Antwerp is optimal for efficient, sustainable rail transport.

 

Martin Hubenack has a professional background in logistics with companies such as Exel, DB Schenker and DHL. He has a wide local network and in-depth knowledge of the regional supply chain needs. Thanks to earlier fruitful collaboration with the Port Authority he is very enthusiastic about his new role as port representative. In this capacity he will mainly concentrate on new opportunities and rail freight potential for the port of Antwerp. "I love the logistics world, in which ports play the main role. I consider it a privilege to work with the motivated and highly professional people of Antwerp Port Authority."