The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh / Visakhapatnam News : Port of Antwerp beckons Indian industry

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Aug 07, 2010
ePaper | Mobile/PDA Version

Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh - Visakhapatnam

Port of Antwerp beckons Indian industry

Staff Reporter

It is the second largest facility in Europe, in the heart of the Continent
It was the first port to set up office in India four year ago

Consul-General of Belgium Jean-Joel Schittecatte explaining a point at a programme organised by the Vizagpatam Chamber of Commerce and Industry in the city on Friday. He is flanked by Raj Khalid, Indian representative of Port of Antwerp, and Vijay Kumar of the chamber.

VISAKHAPATNAM: Consul-General of Belgium Jean-Joel Schittecatte said the Port of Antwerp offered a very good platform for Indian industry to work at the international level.

Speaking at a seminar on ‘Antwerp - your gateway to Europe' here on Friday, he said there was a huge market of half a billion consumers for any operator from abroad.

The seminar was organised by the Vizagapatam Chamber of Commerce and Industry in association with the Port of Antwerp and Indo Belgian-Luxembourg Chamber of Commerce. The Port of Antwerp is the second largest port in Europe in the heart of the Continent.

Mr. Schittecatte said there was quite a good chemistry between Indian mentality and the Belgian one, including the importance given to education and entrepreneurial abilities, as he could see from his experience of three years.

There were some very distinguished Indian establishments in Belgium and a good number of Belgian firms had come to India, he added.

Representative of the Port of Antwerp in India Raj Khalid said after loss of jobs in the manufacturing sector and sensing the winds of change that future factories would be in Asia and Africa and customers in Europe and the USA, the port had taken upon itself promoting the services of the port and set up an office in India four years ago. It was the first port to do so in the entire world.

Talking about the advantages, he said the manufacturing cost of parts made in Pune was less than that of Chinese products but owing to high shipping cost the final cost was more in Europe.

Mr. Khalid said the warehousing facilities could be used for stocking goods and sent to Africa once an order came as the ground rent was lower than in any part of India. With five refineries it has the largest petroleum cluster in Europe. It would like to offer help in safety studies and environmental aspects, particularly in the backdrop of the PCPIR coming up near Visakhapatnam.

Customs Attache of the Federal Public Service Finance of the Embassy of Belgium Werner Van Der Cruyssen said it was for the first time a delegation from Belgium came to Visakhapatnam. The customs clearance at Antwerp had an integrated control.

Answering questions, he said even chemicals would be cleared with a delay of two hours as 90 per cent of chemicals were released electronically. “If there is a problem, we will get back to the importer,” he added. VCCI honorary secretary K. Vijay Kumar presided.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Andhra Pradesh