Singapore Government Media Release
Media Division, Ministry of Information and The Arts,
140 Hill Street #02-02 MITA Building, Singapore 179369.
Tel: 837 9666

I am very happy to be here in this beautiful city of Dalian, and to open DALIAN PORTNET here today. What is even more satisfying for me is that this joint venture project spans both my transport and IT portfolio.

In July 1996, the Port of Dalian Authority and PSA Corporation formalized the landmark joint venture to cooperate on the Dalian Container Terminal project. In these short 4 years, Dalian Container Terminal has achieved a significant increase in annual throughput from 400,000 TEUs to some 630,000 TEUs. Dalian Container Terminal also showed tremendous improvement in productivity and garnered the international award of "Best Emerging Container Terminal" in the first Lloyd’s List Maritime Awards in 1999. Clearly, the cooperation between the Port of Dalian Authority and PSA Corporation is a winning formula.

Today, we are at the threshold of another milestone in the both parties’ win-win cooperation. The joint venture, Dalian Portnet Company Limited, is poised to propel container operations in Dalian ahead of competitors with the latest advances in IT and eCommerce. It symbolises yet another achievement between Port of Dalian Authority and PSA, following the success of the container terminal business.

With this collaboration, Dalian Portnet Company Limited will deploy PORTNET, PSA’s proprietary e-commerce system, at Dalian Container Terminal, Dalian Domestic Container Terminal and eight of Dalian’s conventional terminals. Users of these facilities and port related service providers stand to benefit from the knowledge and experience amassed in the well-proven PORTNET system. This is the same system that has enabled the Port of Singapore to handle more than 16 million TEUs a year. The Dalian terminals would therefore be able to leapfrog the 16 years that PSA took to build and refine its state-of-the-art internet-based maritime community system.

With PORTNET, the maritime and shipping community in north eastern China will be able to ship their cargo conveniently and effortlessly. PORTNET will simplify and improve their business processes and enable users to closely track their cargo shipped through Dalian. It will make Dalian an attractive logistics node and strengthen its position as a major hub in the northeast China region. The real beneficiaries of the system will eventually be the port users and people and economy of Dalian.

I understand we would see the first fruits of this new joint venture as early as the first quarter of next year. We look forward to more opportunities for cooperation and strengthening of this close bond that exists between the people of Dalian and Singapore. With this in mind, it is thus my great pleasure to declare DALIAN PORTNET officially open.

Thank you.

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