The European Union Ambassador to Liberia, Laurent Delahousse, has led a delegation of European ambassadors and diplomats to pay a courtesy call on APM Terminals Liberia.
The French Ambassador to Liberia, Michael Roux, was a key member of this delegation as well as other representatives from the German Embassy and the EU office in Liberia.
The visit involved a tour of the Port in which the delegation received first hand briefing on the operations of APM Terminals Liberia as well as the Freeport of Monrovia in general.
The visit follows a similar one that the U.S Ambassador to Liberia paid to the Port a fortnight ago, reaffirming the strong interest that the diplomatic community is taking in the transformation of the Freeport of Monrovia as a means to strengthening trade between Liberia and Europe and the United States.
Managing Director of APM Terminals, Mr. Jonathan Graham and Commercial Manager Mr. Thomas Moore jointly briefed the delegation.
The briefing centered on macro-economic business development, ongoing improvement initiatives, and the Port Digitization partnership between APM Terminals Liberia and the Liberia Revenue Authority, dredging of the Port and further planned investments.
Giving a business update on transformation at APM Terminals Liberia, Thomas Moore, stressed that a key focus of the company’s recent initiatives has been to improve customer experience and the ease of doing business at the Port.
“We are rolling out the Port digitization process that has come with new systems and processes. We are also strengthening our Way of Working, and enacting daily transformation initiatives. All of these are not just to boost our commercial output but to improve efficiency and customer experience here at the Freeport of Monrovia which will ultimate support economic growth of the country,” Mr. Moore said.
On behalf of the visiting delegation, the EU Ambassador expressed satisfaction with the level of investment into Port efficiency being done by APM Terminals Liberia.
He said such investments have the potential of unlocking new frontiers of trade facilitation between Europe and Liberia and most importantly demonstrates the commitment of APM Terminals to honor the terms of their concession agreement.
“With my colleagues from the Member States of the European Union, I was impressed with the ambitious agenda pushed by APM Terminals Liberia, a European company, to develop the activity and improve the services at the Freeport of Monrovia, in a joint effort with all stakeholders,” European Union Ambassador said.
“The digitalization of port and customs formalities will speed up import and export processes and reduce costs for stakeholders. The dredging of the port will address a vital and urgent threat to port activities and allow access to bigger vessels, bringing costs down. Further planned investments show the commitment of APM Terminals Liberia to honor the terms of their concession agreement and to serve the interests of the economy and the people of Liberia,” Amb. Delahousse remarked.
As a company with European roots, APM Terminals continues to demonstrates the power of trade and industrial partnerships that can be brought about through Europe-Africa collaborations.