The statements were made by Joaquim Piedade, coordinator of the management committee of the public capital company that operates in cargo transport and as an operator of port and airport terminals, on the sidelines of the signing ceremony of an agreement with the Abu Dhabi Ports group.
The agreement aims to create a consortium to operate the multipurpose terminal in Luanda for a period of 20 years, extendable for another ten years, with an investment totaling 410 million dollars, providing for the modernization of port infrastructures and operations in the port segment, logistics and air.
The head of Unicargas said that the United Arab Emirates group's investments will contribute "to transforming Angola into a logistics 'hub' for the region" and added that they will continue with a memorandum of understanding with Secil Marítima, which provides for joint operation of the Catumbela Air Cargo Terminal (Benguela), to enhance air cargo control in the Lobito Corridor.
"As a result of these investments we will expand our activity to the region", he stated, highlighting the "great attention" given to countries without access to the sea, such as DRCongo and Zambia, where Unicargas will expand its activity to transport products to region.
"Today we distribute nationally, but we want to take goods to and from countries that are on our border, such as DRCongo and Zambia", said Joaquim Piedade, estimating that this activity will begin in August.
Last year, Unicargas achieved a turnover of 15 billion kwanzas, which Joaquim Piedade hopes to triple in the coming years.
The manager expects the first year of partnership with AD Ports to be "intense" in terms of investments in port infrastructure, benefiting what is Unicargas' largest business segment.
Currently, the company only operates 10 percent of the Port of Luanda due to the lack of depth that limits the capacity of ships that call at the terminal currently managed by Unicargas.
"We are going to have a different reality [after the next 18 months]", as the current nine meters of depth will be increased to 16 meters, allowing for vessels of greater draft.
"Today we have the capacity to operate ships with 1,000 TEUs [container load measurement], with this transformation we will have the capacity to operate ships with 9,000 TEUs", said Joaquim Piedade.
