In attendance of the ministers of petroleum and investment & international cooperation of Egypt, the ambassadors of Belgium, The Netherlands and the European Delegation to Egypt, Kristof Waterschoot, Managing Director of PAI/APEC gave a key note speech heralding the cooperation between the ministry of Petroleum and Port of Antwerp International.
Egypt is interested in developing several activities to become a regional hub, to enhance stability and peace in the region, as it possesses all the potentials needed to qualify it to achieve that goal, e.g. the Suez Canal, LNG plants in Idku and Damietta, as well as its unique location among energy producers and consumers. The EU bolsters the Egyptian government in implementing its plans and encourages it to expand its petroleum projects, through developing the petrochemical projects and refineries. This enables Egypt to fulfil its energy requirements, as well as distributing and transporting it from all over the region to the world. He pointed out that the EU also supports the recently established East Mediterranean Gas Forum (EMGF), to ensure stability and peace among the countries of the region and strengthen cooperation with Europe.
The Port of Antwerp is the 5th largest bunker port in the world, hence playing an important role in the transition towards the use of cleaner fuels. By 2025, the Port of Antwerp aims to have morphed into a Multi Fuel Port, and is fully engaged to integrate hydrogen, methanol and electric power in its bunker portfolio using the LNG bunker policy as blueprint. As Port Authority we lead the way with a retrofit to methanol of a harbour tugboat and the electrical passenger vessels on the Albert Canal.
In close collaboration and co-creation, hands-on experience will be exchanged and shared resulting in a sound strategy and roadmap towards the execution.