Maersk Line - the largest container shipping line globally and a market leader in Sri Lanka - fully supports the 2018 Budget proposals made by Finance Minister Mangala Samaraweera to open up the shipping and logistics sector to foreign investments and to establish an independent port regulator.
Steve Felder, Managing Director India, Sri Lanka & Bangladesh, for Maersk Line in a statement issued on the subject said,d “Maersk Line supports any efforts that governments make to liberalize and improve the business environment for the maritime industry, and for our customers. In this spirit, we commend the proposals tabled in the Sri Lankan Parliament last week, which included removing the restriction on foreign ownership of shipping agencies and amendment of the Merchant Shipping Act, which are intended to further support the development of Colombo as a key maritime hub.”
The liberalization of shipping agencies is expected to reduce transaction costs for carriers using Colombo as a transshipment hub thereby making it attractive for shipping lines like Maersk to further increase volumes especially given the growth of new transshipment hubs in this region.
Felder further mentioned that if the proposals tabled in the Parliament last Thursday which included removing the restriction on foreign ownership of shipping agencies, and the amendment of the Merchant Shipping Act, are approved, Maersk will engage closely with its headquarters and its valued partners in Sri Lanka, and together evaluate options on increasing our footprint in Sri Lanka.
Maersk Line, the global containerized division of the Maersk Group has employees in 325 offices across 125 countries and a fleet of more than 500 vessels along with 1.9 million containers, with the global reach and resources to accommodate customers’ broad transportation needs.
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