SHRI V.P. GOYAL TO VISIT
MAJOR PORTS IN UK & BELGIUM
The Union Minister
of Shipping, Shri Ved Prakash Goyal today left on a state visit
to London & Belgium. He is accompanying with a high-powered
delegation comprising of officials from the Ministry of Shipping,
Dredging Corporation of India, Inland Waterways Authority of India
& Ennore Port. During his visit Shri Goyal would discuss with
Belgian officials for a tie-up on cooperation between the two
countries in the areas of dredging, port development and Inland
waterways. The Shipping Minister has placed great emphasis on
the development of these areas and particularly, the Inland waterways.
At the conclusions of these discussions on 25th October,
it is expected that an agreement will be reached between the two
sides for transfer of know-how and expertise in the above fields
from the Belgian side to the Indians.
During his tour,
the Shipping Minister shall also visit Belgian ports of Antwerp
& Zeebrugge, one of the most sophisticated ports of the world.
The foreign investors of Belgium who have an interest in investing
in the Major Ports infrastructure projects of India, are also
expected to interact with the Minister. En-route to Belgium, in
London, the delegation will also visit the port of Felixstowe,
Tilbury and the Port of London. It may be mentioned that Kolkata
Port was developed along the lines of Port of London. The Shipping
Minister during his visit to the port of London will examine whether
the kind of innovated and diversified experiment can be replicated
in Kolkata port for its advantage.
It is expected that
Shri Goyal’s visit would help attracting large size of foreign
direct investment into port and shipping sectors, with a special
reference to the area of dredging and Inland waterways.
