President HH Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nayhan
Speaking at Taweelah – the site of Abu Dhabi’s extraordinary megaproject of Khalifa Port and Khalifa Industrial Zone Abu Dhabi (Kizad), President His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan spoke of his great pride at the completion of projects that are of benefit to the citizens of the entire UAE and that strengthen the national economy.
He made his remarks when inaugurating ADPC’s state of the art new Khalifa Port, north-east of Abu Dhabi city, which with Kizad will form part of one of the world’s largest industrial zones within only twenty years. Its first phase has been built at a cost of AED 26.5 billion (USD 7.2 billion) and was delivered within budget and ahead of schedule – a great achievement in itself and a stunning example of modern civil engineering.
Khalifa Port is well and truly on the map. It has just taken over all of Mina Zayed’s TEU container traffic and is expected to break the Emirate’s cargo records with its paperless, digital high-technology. It proudly features, for instance, the only semi-automated container terminal in a radius of 5,000 kilometres.
The spectacular and high-level inauguration was also attended by the Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, His Highness General Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, and H.H. Sheikh Hamdan bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Ruler’s Representative in the Western Region.
The President added that the inauguration of the flagship port, the largest infrastructure project in the bustling Emirate of Abu Dhabi, represents a landmark in the modernisation and development of the United Arab Emirates through the efforts of Emiratis benefitting from and taking advantage of international expertise.
”The opening of this flagship project strengthens our progress towards completion of the Abu Dhabi Economic Vision 2030 with confident steps and will also contribute to the continuation of the high rate of growth witnessed by the UAE, meeting the aspirations of the country’s citizens for a significant base for the national economy,” the President said, in a speech at the inauguration of the Port at its container terminal, where one of the largest container ships in the world, the gigantic CSCL Uranus, with 14,000 TEUs aboard, was being unloaded.
”The UAE is determined to implement large-scale projects to support the development of the national economy,” the President added, noting how Khalifa Port will boost the status of the UAE within the global economy.
President HH Sheikh Khalifa praised the huge contributiuon made by Emiratis in the completion of the project’s first phase, adding: ”Supporting and developing our human resources and making use of them, in different specialisations, so that they may play their role in the development of the country, is a priority for us.”
He ended his speech at the spectacular inauguration ceremony by wishing all the staff of Khalifa Port and its parent company, Abu Dhabi Ports Company, good luck in our work, so that Khalifa Port would play a confident and successful role in connecting the UAE to the rest of the world.