DUBAI: July 27, 2016: DP World and the state-owned Taiwan International Ports Corporation (TIPC) have signed an MoU to develop the port of Kaohsiung's Terminal 7.

Group chairman and CEO Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayem noted Kaohsiung, like Dubai, was once a fishing village and as such both ports have a shared history.

"Kaohsiung (right) has the potential to benefit from our operational efficiencies in the region," added Rashid Abdulla, DP World Asia Pacific Region senior vice president. "It has enough container capacity to serve immediate growth in Taiwan but does not yet have the capability to attract new growth resulting from the Ultra Large Container Vessels added to line-haul services. This MoU marks the intention to tackle this challenge."

DP World said it handled 31.4 million TEU across its container terminals during the first half of 2016 (H1), with gross container volumes growing 2.5 percent on a reported basis and up 1.2 percent on a like-for-like basis.

Growth was attributed to European and Indian terminals while Australia and Latin America "remain challenging". The group said the UAE saw a 6.0 percent drop in throughput to 7.4 million TEU compared to H1 2015 "due to a reduction in lower-margin cargo".

Bin Sulayem commented: "Despite challenging market conditions in the first half of the year, we expect the second half of 2016 to show an improved performance as our new developments in Rotterdam, Nhava Sheva, London Gateway and Yarimca (Turkey) deliver an increasing contribution."