MANAMA: High Bahraini-sation rate in the kingdom’s main port operator was hailed yesterday by Transportation Minister and Economic Development Board acting chief executive Kamal Ahmed.

This came as he met APM Terminals Bahrain management team – operators of Khalifa Bin Salman Port – who presented the port’s performance report for last year.

The minister reviewed the performance indicators and urged the Ports and Maritime Affairs’ officials to maintain success rate.

He also praised the percentage of Bahrainisation in the company which currently comprises 78 per cent of the company’s workforce, stressing the need to continue to invest in staff training.

The port operator’s plans for buying and acquiring new equipment to improve its facilities were also discussed.

APM Terminals Bahrain chief executive Marco Neelsen presented a full overview of the programmes and projects that were implemented by the company last year related to safety and security and also shared the port performance indicators, with a detailed explanation of the commercial operations statistics.

Future plans in operations, equipment and marketing were also discussed.
The minister requested for a plan to be developed that highlights initiatives and strategies to attract new international shipping lines and increase transshipment volume to boost the kingdom’s economy.
He called on the operator to continue to focus on safety and security at the port, and to increase efforts to further enhance operational productivity to achieve the economic objectives.