(MENAFN- The Peninsula) Irfan Bukhari | The Peninsula
From the inauguration of the state-of-the-art Hamad Port to winning world's number one airline award by Qatar Airways, Qatar has accomplished landmark achievements in last hundred days of unjust siege.
By launching new maritime lines and also by laying foundation of the mega food processing and storage facility, Qatar has shown the world that it can weather any storm with judicious decision-making, perseverance and unity. As the siege countries cut supplies of essential food items to Qatar, Doha explored new markets including Turkey, Iran, India, Pakistan, Oman etc. and clinched better deals in the last the 100 days under blockade and the journey continues towards stable, trustworthy partnerships with various world nations.
Hamad Port changes regional maritime landscape
During siege Qatar accomplished a remarkable achievement and that is the opening of Hamad Port. The largest port in the Middle East was officially inaugurated on September 5 under the auspices of the Emir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani.
Hamad Port, with an annual capacity of 7.5 million twenty-foot equivalent unit (TEU), is the materialization of Qatar's plan to diversify its economy and achieve self-reliance.
The port has general cargo terminal with a capacity of 1.7 million tonnes annually, a terminal for cereals with a capacity of one million tonnes, a terminal to receive vehicles with a capacity of 500,000 vehicles, a terminal for livestock, a terminal for coastguard vessels and a terminal for marine support and backup.
On the inauguration of the port, the Minister of Transport and Communications H E Jassim bin Saif Al Sulaiti said that Hamad Port was currently handling 27 percent of the regional trade in the Middle East. Hamad Port aims to acquire about 35 percent of the regional trade share after the completion of all its phases. The total cost of all the stages of Hamad Port project is about QR27.5bn and all the project stages will be completed in 2021.
Hamad Port also made a great achievement by providing an opportunity for the private sector to participate in the huge project. Private sector's contribution in the project reached 60 percent of the total value of the tenders made to implement this major development project.
The port is equipped with accurate inspection devices, which enables the inspection of goods without human effort, putting Hamad Port among the world's largest in terms of the number and quality of the equipment fitted to ensure fast and efficient service of containers and cargoes.
Now Qatar is able to receive 40 percent of the goods coming to Doha directly through Hamad Port without any restrictions or complications, while the remaining 60 percent is received through alternative ports such as Sohar and Salalah in Oman and others in India, Pakistan, Turkey and Kuwait.
A great leap towards food security
Along a number of other initiatives taken in the last three months, Hamad Port will also build food processing and storage facilities. The project will be constructed on an area of approximately 53 hectares (530,000 square meters) and will contain manufacturing, conversion and refining facilities for rice, raw sugar and edible oils. These products will be available for local, regional and international use.
New markets, new partnerships
Turkey was the first country which announced its unconditional support for Qatar immediately after the blockade on June 5. The Turkish food products swiftly filled the vacant space addressing temporary shortage of goods induced by the siege.
According to recently released figures, Turkey has emerged as one of the top trading partners of Qatar after the blockade. Turkey's export volume to Qatar surged by 84 percent during the June-August period this year, compared to the same period in 2016.
The combined value of Turkish exports to Qatar for the three months stood at $165m. The value of Turkish exports to Qatar rose by 75 percent year-on-year and touched $65m, in August.
A trade delegation of over 100 Qatari businessmen also visited Turkey to explore business and investment opportunities in the end of July. The trade delegation organised by Qatar Chamber (QC) visited Istanbul and Izmir to establish business partnership with Turkey.
The Financial Tribune, an Iranian newspaper, has recently reported that Iran exported 737,500 tons of non-oil goods worth $67.5m to Qatar over five months to August 22 (March 22 to August 22), registering 30.8% and 60.57% growth in terms of volume and the value respectively compared to the same period last year.
Earlier this month, the land route from Turkey to Port of Bushehr in Iran and then by sea to Ruwais port in Qatar was also opened for transport of goods. As many as 200 trucks carrying milk, fruits, vegetables, grains and other food products arrived in Qatar through this route. The land trade route through Turkey, Iran and Qatar is expected to significantly reduce the cost of transportation of goods. The new trade line will lead to a decline of nearly 80 % in the transportation cost of food items compared to air freight charges, experts say.
According to another report appeared in 'Times of Oman, transactions between Oman and Qatar increased by 1,000 percent in a single month (August), and 2,000 percent over three months. Few days ago, Qatar Ports Management Company (Mwani Qatar) and Oman Global Logistics Group (ASYAD) also signed an MoU in the field of developing logistics services, shipping and passenger ferry services.
The MoU aims to develop passenger ferry services between Qatar and Oman, which could be developed into a commercial venture. It also aims to develop a joint strategy to anchor cargo business to Hamad Port and Omani ports as well as develop joint logistic services between Hamad Port and Omani seaports.
In mid August, a delegation of Pakistani businessmen and industrialists also visited Qatar to explore new grounds for building new trade partnerships while some companies expressed interest to invest in Qatar's pharmaceutical sector. Zubair F Tufail, President of The Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI), who led the delegation, had told The Peninsula that two food companies from Pakistan including ‘Big Bird' and K & Ns were already exporting frozen chicken products to Qatar at a limited scale. 'We want to increase the level of exports and Qatari authorities too are welcoming it, he had added.
New shipping lines launched
Mwani and Milaha launched a number of new maritime lines between Hamad Port and different ports of Oman, Kuwait, Turkey, India and Pakistan in the last three months.
The new routes connected Qatar ports to Sohar and Salalah ports in Oman, Shuwaikh Port in Kuwait, Karachi port in Pakistan, Izmir port in Turkey, Mundra and Nava Shiva ports in India.
Within a week of three Gulf countries imposing a blockade on Qatar, Mwani Qatar launched a new direct service between Hamad Port and Sohar Port in Oman under Milaha's DMJ service — three times a week.
The first direct service between Hamad Port and Sohar Port in Oman was inaugurated on June 11, 2017. On June 14, the Ministry of Transport and Communications announced launching a new maritime line between Qatar and India named 'India Qatar Express Service (IQX). On June 23, another new line linking Hamad Port directly to Salalah Port was launched.
Last month, Kuwait Qatar Express Service started between Hamad Port and Shuwaikh Port in Kuwait using a 515 TEU vessel. In the last week of August, Milaha announced the launch of a direct service between Pakistan and Qatar. The new service, called PQX (Pakistan Qatar Express Service), is operating weekly between the Port of Karachi, Pakistan and Hamad Port, Qatar with a competitive transit time of 4 days, making it the fastest direct connection between the two countries.
The first direct refrigerated container service between Qatar and Turkey was also launched by Milaha last month.
On September 17 (next Sunday), two new maritime lines are being launched from Hamad Port which will enhance Qatar's trade connections with various ports in China, India, Malaysia, Turkey and Greece, among other countries.
Qatar Ports Management Company (Mwani Qatar) recently announced that two shipping companies, Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) and Yang Ming, would open the new lines from September 17, 2017.
Qatar Airways flies high despite unjust restrictions
In June (the first month of siege), Qatar Airways reclaimed the number one position in 2017' Skytrax awards, announced on the second day of the Paris Air Show. In addition to being voted Best Airline by travellers from around the world, Qatar's national carrier also won a number of other major awards at the ceremony, including 'Best Airline in the Middle East, 'World's Best Business Class and 'World's Best First Class Airline Lounge.
Qatar Airways Group Chief Executive, Akbar Al Baker, has been recently elected Chairman of the Board of Governors (BoG) of prestigious global aviation industry body International Air Transport Association (IATA).
As per sentiment analysis conducted by BrandsEye, Qatar Airways had recovered siege in just 48 hours.
Qatar Airways announced last month that it had been told by Airbus it would receive its first A350-1000 aircraft before the end of the year.
Qatar Airways is the launch customer of Europe's largest twin-engined passenger jet and is scheduled to receive its first of 37 on order this year. Qatar Airways also entered into a new interline partnership with full-service Indian airline Vistara, as the Qatari national carrier marks more than 20 successful years of flights to India.
Apart from adding additional flights to a number of destinations and launching new flights, Qatar Airways was awarded the 'Best Up In The Air Experience award for the third consecutive year and the 'Best Baggage Initiative award at the Future Travel Experience Global 2017 awards ceremony, held last week in Las Vegas. Apart from remaining the first choice of millions of travellers across the globe, Qatar Airways Cargo ensured smooth supply of perishable goods to Qatar during siege particularly in the beginning weeks.
'The Loadstar recently reported that in the weeks following the announcement of blockade in June, Qatar Airways Cargo saw 160 percent year-on-year increases in imports as the government requisitioned air freight capacity to airlift food in. To keep up with a shift from a usual daily 180 tonnes of perishable goods to 900 tonnes, the carrier brought in third-party aircraft including military C17s, B747Fs, A300Fs, A330Fs and Ilyushins.
Hamad International Airport too not affected by blockade
Despite the ongoing blockade imposed on Qatar by three Gulf countries, the business at Hamad International Airport (HIA) is going as usual and HIA served 580,000 passengers and handled 3,300 aircraft movements in during the holiday period June 19 to 25, 2017.
Hamad International Airport (HIA) last month announced enhancing its current sponsorship of the German football club FC Bayern Munich as Platinum sponsor.
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