The ports of Singapore, Hamburg, Rotterdam, Antwerp, Barcelona, Gothenburg and Montreal came together at Tanger Med with the aim of intensifying close collaboration and discussing common projects related to port operations topics and innovations.

The meeting succeeded in elevating the ongoing, fruitful dialogue to the next level. The participants focused on a range of common port issues, such as new technologies and innovations that drive daily port operations. These included digitalisation processes that shape the digital culture of ports, corporate social responsibility and projects relating to renewable energy and sustainability. The meeting also looked at a number of initiatives aimed at promoting the development of the maritime sector.

Designed to simultaneously combine both meeting sessions and site visits, the two-day programme included tours of Tanger Med Port, the Logistics Free Zone, and the industrial platform backed by the port. The participants visited facilities such the Renault Tanger Med, the largest automobile factory in Africa. The tour finished with a visit of the Tanger Med innovation cluster, including the third campus of the coding school 1337 MED, which is part of the global IT-education network 42.
Mr Mehdi Tazi Riffi, CEO of Tanger Med, stated “Tanger Med is delighted to host its chainPORT partner ports to collectively address the common challenges ahead and to reassert the vital and growing role that ports play in improving the efficiency of global supply chains. The meeting represented an excellent starting point to design joint projects in the fields of digitalisation and decarbonisation.

“We are very pleased that Tanger Med has opened its doors to chainPORT members by providing such a comprehensive overview of its operational, strategic and social projects. This is a sign that smart ports are willing to transparently drive supply chain optimisation in order to achieve greater security, connectivity and efficiency. The case study trip is a new gathering that complements the intense debates that take place at our Annual General Meetings, Academy programmes and regular working-group meetings.” said Mr Jens Meier,CEO of the Hamburg Port Authority.

At the conclusion of the meeting, the chainPORT member ports pointed out their willingness to continue this global maritime dialogue and to substantiate the discussions in the form of concrete collaboration projects.