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Walvis port beneficial to EU

From left to right: Johny Smith, WBCG’s chief executive officer; Kobus Maree, Savino Del Bene (Savino) SA managing director; Bisey Uirab, Namport chief executive officer and Karel Grunschloss, director of the Namibia Logistics Association. (Photograph contributed)A private sector delegation visited Europe earlier in March to promote the port of Walvis Bay as a point of entry for European exporters who are targeting southern African markets.
Upon their return, the group which consisted of four prominent business leaders, said that their aim was to create more awareness of Walvis Bay as an alternative port for southern Africa and to extend current international network for further growth and development.
The delegation visited Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. Various information events were held in association with the embassies of Namibia and the chambers of commerce to ensure that potential clients are informed on the benefits of using the Port of Walvis Bay and the Walvis Bay Corridors.
“As a relatively new trade route for southern Africa, it has become apparent that more information and facts must be provided to decision makers beyond the SADC region,” said Walvis Bay Corridor Group CEO, Johny Smith.
The information events also served as a barometer as to the level of information that exists in the market on Walvis Bay and why customers prefer to use the Port of Walvis Bay for the SADC market.
The potential stakeholders, who included various service providers such as freight forwarders, importers, exporters, shipping lines and other logistics service providers, were treated to various presentations by the WBCG, Namibian Port Authority (Namport) and Imperial Logistics.
The WBCG joined efforts with Imperial Logistics and Namport to grow more imports and exports via the Walvis Bay Corridors; to strengthen capacity in the complete supply chain and intermodal linkage of Walvis Bay to the region; and to jointly develop the linkage of Walvis Bay Corridors between the SADC region and the global transport and logistics network.
The core benefits that were also emphasized upon when utilising the Walvis Bay Corridors, amongst others, were time saving; cost savings; high safety and security standards; the reliability of the Walvis Bay Corridor Group systems; and also strategic geographical location of the Port of Walvis Bay on the west coast of southern Africa which allows for the facilitation of trade not only between the SADC region and Europe, but also increasingly with the Americas and the Far East.
Other marketing campaigns have been planned for China and Brazil this year. Through all the promotional campaigns, WBCG works closely with the Namibian embassies abroad and by thus strengthening the dual role to become stronger ambassadors for growth for the SADC region via the Walvis Bay Corridors.

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