PPA inks sister port agreement with Haikou

The Philippine Ports Authority (PPA) has entered into an agreement with the Port and Shipping Authority (PSA) of Haikou City in China to become sister ports and work together to improve services in respective areas of jurisdiction.

The agreement was signed by PPA general manager Jay Daniel Santiago and PSA of Haikou City director general Lin Jian.

Under the agreement, the PPA and PSA can share experience and expertise in the areas of port development and maintenance, port management, port operations and trade cargo, port safety and disaster prevention, port environmental issues, as well as other areas of cooperation.

The agreement is the second to be signed by the PPA with China in more than a decade.

Earlier, PPA signed a similar agreement for the ports of Manila and Davao with Guangzhou to facilitate shipments of goods between the ports.

Aside from Guangzhou and Haikou City, PPA has signed similar contracts with Incheon Port in South Korea, the Ports of Kobe and Yokohama in Japan, Port of Cork in Ireland, and Port of San Francisco.

At present, the PPA is looking at other international ports it could work with.

This, as the PPA sees cooperation agreements as useful in promoting the viability and competitiveness of Philippine ports and to have it aligned with world standards.

As of end-June, the country’s ports handled cargo volume of 125.81 million metric tons (MT), up 7.42 percent.

“Port traffic sustained its growth momentum propelled by the surging domestic demand as well as private investment,” Santiago said.

He said the more efficient movement of cargoes coming in and out of the Manila ports as a result of the implementation of Terminal Appointment Booking System, as well as other measures for decongestion also contributed to the continued efficient operations of the ports.

Last year, total volume of cargo handled by the country’s ports reached 249.57 million MT, 12 percent higher than the same period in 2015.