Dertje Meijer welcomes delegates to PPI TS19
Port of Amsterdam CEO offers her welcome to attendees for the 2011 event
Published: October 18, 2011
Ladies and Gentlemen,
I like to welcome you all to the PPI transport symposium in the City of Amsterdam.
I am pleased to see so many representatives and experts from the paper industry from all over the world.
It is a great honour for us that RISI and IFPTA have selected Amsterdam to be the host for this prestigious event.
During your stay you will certainly find that Amsterdam is an attractive and exiting city. But, in my opinion, Amsterdam has also a lot to offer to your industry.
Allow me to elaborate on this statement.
Many of you have been on the port tour yesterday and attended the welcome reception in the newly renovated Maritime Museum.
The combination of the port tour and the Maritime Museum must have given you an impression of both the colourful history of the port of Amsterdam and… her development into a modern port that we operate today.
Indeed, the history of the Port of Amsterdam is the history of the City of Amsterdam.
And, for the sake of the audience here today, let me tell you that the City of Amsterdam is built on forest products.
I’ll explain why……
It all started off in the 13th century when fishermen placed wooden palisades along the banks of the river Amstel, founding Amstelredam. Later to be known as Amsterdam.
Traditionally Amsterdam was a timber port.
First of all the city of Amsterdam is entirely built on wooden poles, because the land was originally a swamp and the city would have drowned if wooden poles had not supported our houses.
And timber has also been a driver for the Amsterdam shipbuilding industry for production of tall ships and thus …the timber trade became an important part of the Amsterdam economy.
It also gave the inhabitants the opportunity to trade by waterways.
Since then the port of Amsterdam has not stopped expanding.
In the Golden Age the port became the most important trade centre in the world, moving spices, porcelain, tobacco, sugar, grains, cocoa and, of course….....wood.
Today we are handling 92 million tons of cargo annually and Amsterdam ranks as the number 4 biggest port in Europe. The port is a dynamic, international hub and the port region generates employment for more than 55.000 people. It is an important cornerstone for the regional economy.
The port is easy to reach and has many intermodal connections to the hinterland and European markets.
With the international Airport of Schiphol, only 15 minutes away from the port, the Amsterdam region is now made up into an unmatched logistic hub.
The airport is the number 3 biggest in Europe for cargo and the logistics industry in our port cooperates with the airport on a number of projects.
Many of you have used the airport to come to this symposium.
Its convenient location is also a highly recommended entrance for international cruise passengers, boarding the ocean cruise vessels sailing from Amsterdam.
This year we handle 125 cruise vessels and for next year we already booked 150 calls. A growing market….
Speaking about growth. The port has the ambition to continue to grow.
And on this subject I am exited about the theme of your conference,” Growth & Sustainability”. Your item is very much in line with our vision on growth for the future.
Over the years millions of tons have been handled in our port and we are of course proud of the volumes we have reached.
But growth is not our most important goal. Land is becoming scarce and as a major port we have major responsibilities for the environment. Smart use of space and sustainable solutions for new business is high on our priority list.
Already in 2006 our port vision anticipated to double volumes in 2020, without expanding the surface of land. Our challenge is to intensify the use of land and to attract cargoes that require innovative and efficient disciplines.
Our aim is to diversify cargo streams and reach a perfect mix of volumes, transhipment, employment and added value.
And I strongly believe that the forest industry complies with these criteria. They nicely fit in our port strategy.
The companies involved in the paper industry in our port are contributing to an efficient supply chain of manufacturing, distribution, warehousing and shipping of forest products.
They are innovative, they create employment and they produce quality products.
The number one paper manufacturer in the Netherlands is situated in our region, creating hundreds of jobs and producing over 200.000 tons of paper products per annum.
Many newspaper companies are in Amsterdam and the number one Dutch daily “De Telegraaf” is even situated in the port area.
Dedicated terminals in our port handle about 800.000 tons of forest products by sea. Many of you have visited some of the facilities yesterday. You have seen their innovative handling of paper, their equipment and the all weather facility for water sensitive products.
All those companies in the forest sector care about added value. They have invested in technology, special equipment and infrastructure to make the process efficient and… to deliver a quality product.
Also the port continues to invest on improvement of infrastructure and accessibility. For instance funding has been agreed for the construction of a large new sea lock to simplify access to the port.
Investments are made in rail and road connections. The port is encouraging modal shift to water and rail transport.
We have a range of ambitions for the coming years. And to realise these, the port of Amsterdam intends to become a corporatized port. That will be put into practice in 2012.
Ladies and gentlemen, where it all started 750 years ago as a simple timber port, we have now developed into a multifunctional, logistic and trade environment.
And believe me, extra involvement in handling forest business is definitely part of our ambitions.
I hope you will enjoy your stay in our beautiful city and find the program of events to be informative.
I wish you a successful symposium and enjoyable time in Amsterdam.
Thank you for your attention.
