The General Authority for Ports and Customs (GOAT) has signed a strategic agreement with the French international company CMA CGM, a leader in the field of maritime transport and logistics, to assign the task of managing and operating two dry ports within the two free zones in Adra in Damascus countryside and Aleppo.
The agreement was signed following a meeting between the Chairman of the Ports Authority Qutaiba Badawi and the company's Director for the Middle East, Joseph Dakkak, under which the two parties will work to develop the transport and logistics sector and raise the operational readiness of the infrastructure to comply with the best international standards governing trade and transport.
Freight trains return after a long hiatus
This agreement coincides with the joint delegation's follow-up on the launch of the first test flight of the cargo and freight train from the Latakia seaport directly to the dry port in the free zone in the Adra area of Damascus countryside after a forced stop of the railway track for 14 years.
The first voyage successfully arrived carrying dozens of commercial containers, in a prominent field step that reflects the return of the official activation of the country's railway transport lines, and the success of the plan to link the seaports on the coast with major logistics and industrial centers and facilities inside Syria.
Economic Vision and Integration of Transport Networks
In a statement published today, the Ports Authority explained that this step falls within the comprehensive economic vision adopted by the Syrian authorities to develop and rehabilitate infrastructure, and enhance the role of dry ports as main pillars supporting the movement of imports and exports by linking them tightly to regional and international land and sea transport networks.
She pointed out that the new operational mechanism aims to achieve effective integration between sea ports, border ports, and internal ports, in a way that directly contributes to accelerating the pace of the flow of goods, reducing operational costs for investors, and facilitating the movement of trade exchange, which provides economic activity in various productive and industrial sectors with unprecedented navigational flexibility.