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Rotterdam Port, billed as Asia’s gateway port to Europe, will make a pitch to strengthen its role in Malaysia’s trade with Europe through a strong marketing delegation from the port led by the Vice-Mayor of Rotterdam, Roelf de Boer during its visit to Malaysia 13-17 November 2006.
de Boer, a former Minister of Transport and Deputy Prime Minister, will be accompanied by Ger van Tongeren, executive vice-president & chief commercial officer of Port of Rotterdam Authority, Kees Weststrate, Area Manager South East Asia, Pieter van Essen, director of department of industry & bulk, Harry van de Braak, advisor to the Board of the Port of Rotterdam Authority.
The Head of the Economic Unit of the The Royal Netherlands Embassy in Kuala Lumpur, Mrs Jacoba Bolderheij said purpose of the visit is to strengthen relations with Malaysian shipping and logistics companies.
The delegation, which will be visiting Port Klang, is here to promote the Port of Rotterdam as an energy hub and a centre for palm oil refinery and distribution, she said.
Rotterdam is the only Halal certified European hub for Halal products.
Rotterdam port, which handles an estimated 400 million tones of cargo, recently opened the Halal distribution centre primarily to reach out to the estimated 30 million Muslim consumer market in Europe.
Halal products from all corners of the world are imported and distributed across Europe from this centre in Rotterdam.
At the moment two companies, VAT Logistics and Eurofrigo have recently been officially certified after they were approved by the Halal Audit Company, also based in Rotterdam.
Port of Rotterdam Authority revealed that a 3.5 hectare halal distribution centre would be built on the Maasvlakte.
It is said that a declaration of intent between VAT and Asian export firm Hecny Group has been signed in the Indonesian capital to put the depot into operation.
VAT is indeed going to build a new depot on the Maasvlakte, which the logistics service provider is indeed trying to fill with halal products in collaboration with Hecny, its agent in Indonesia and Malaysia, the two largest halal-producing countries.
The Rotterdam Port delegation, which will also be accompanied by the Dutch Ambassador to Malaysia, H E Lody Embrechts, will meet local transport and logistics companies and shippers using Rotterdam Port at a networking cocktail, managed by PortsWorld, to be held on 15 November at the Port Information Centre in the International Maritime Square (IMS) in Klang.
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