Hambantota International Port show-cased at top exhibition in Munich

Hambantota International Port ( HIP), was a key participant at ‘ Transport Logistics 2019’, the world’s premier transport and logistics exhibition held in Munich, Germany last week. The port which is the newest addition to the international maritime map was an important feature at the prestigious exposition of international logistical services which had 2,374 exhibitors and around 64,000 visitors from all over the world attending.

The Sri Lankan delegation, of which Hambantota International Port Group ( HIPG) representatives were a part of, held several high- powered meetings with decision makers of Germany’s leading logistics and engineering companies. Hellmann Worldwide Logistics, HapagLloyd, Hamburg Port Consulting, Siemens Digital Logistics business, DHL, DB Schenker and Kuehne + Nagel were some of the top level players they met with, HIP said in a media release.

The Lankan delegation who attended the meetings, was headed by Minister of Por t s , Shipping and Souther n Development Sagala Ratnayake while the HIPG t eam was l ed by T i s s a Wickramasinghe, Chief Operating Officer of HIPG.

“This is the first time in my entire career that I was challenged with positioning an entire port with all it services. But these are exciting times and we are proud to be trailblazers not only in positioning our multi- purpose port but also the opportunity of placing Sri Lanka on the world’s maritime map, in an altogether new way,” said Mr. Wickremasinghe.

He said, from a marketing point of view, his team’s participation in the prestigious exhibition is significant, as it gave them the opportunity to showcase the port to the maritime world. “For us Sri Lankans, Hambantota is a well-known historic port, but to the world at large it is relatively new. No one knows about HIP’s deep water capability and the vast area of land surrounding the port, well primed for development.”

HIPG as an organisational strategy, is promoting the multi-purpose Hambantota Port as an entirely new proposition. The marketing pitch of the company is based on the variety of cargo and unique port services that are being provided by the port.

HIP’s full range of services include container handling, general cargo, ro-ro, passenger, bunkering, bulk terminal, gas, and project cargo. The port is well on its way to becoming one of a kind in Sri Lanka, as it is the only port in the country designed to handle such a wide range of services in the maritime and logistics fields, the release said.