PORT AUTHORITY OF JAMAICA AND ZIM SHIPPING LINE SIGNS MEMORANDUM OF AGREEMENT

Minister Pickersgill affixes his signature to the Memorandum of Agreement at the signing between Port Authority of Jamaica (PAJ) and Zim Shipping Line while Dr. Yoram Sebba (left) and Mr. Noel Hylton, President & CEO of PAJ looks on.

The Port Authority of Jamaica (PAJ) and Zim Shipping Line on Tuesday, June 28, 2005, signed a Memorandum of Agreement, which will see the creation of a new Free Zone/Distribution Hub linked to the Kingston Transhipment Port (KTP). The signing which took place at the Jamaica Pegasus Hotel, had in attendance Dr. Yoram Sebba (Vice Chairman of Zim Shipping Line), The Hon. Robert Pickersgill (Minster of Transport and Works) and The Hon. Noel Hylton, President and CEO of the Port Authority of Jamaica.

The new Free Zone will serve as a major logistics and distribution hub for the Americas, chiefly Latin America and the Caribbean. ZIM will have a 25% share of the company and the remaining 75% goes to the PAJ.

ZIM will establish a local company and lease the property from the joint venture company for 25 years, to operate the logistics services and offer the services to companies worldwide that wish to distribute goods throughout the Americas. The operations will essentially involve ZIM securing new business to distribute goods for manufacturers importing container loads into the Free Zone area, unpacking them, then consolidating shipments and repacking for distribution in the region.

The location of the new Free Zone, a sixteen-acre Maintenance Centre property was purchased from Cable & Wireless Jamaica LTD by the Port Authority of Jamaica. This will house the Logistics Centre at the Port and will incorporate a central marketing point that is considered an important aspect of the development of large modern Hub Ports.

Companies using the services of ZIM will be able to move goods through the Kingston Transhipment Port into their warehousing facilities in the Free Zone/Logistics Centre, where they would be stripped, repackaged and consolidated. These goods would then be sent directly from the Zone to the companies’ client anywhere in the world either by air or sea.

Speaking at the signing, Minister Pickersgill said ‘Today’s signing marks the launch of another important aspect of the overall development of Port of Kingston.’ He further noted, ‘this Logistics Distribution Centre will no doubt not burnish but enhance Kingston’s position as a major Hub Port in the Region.’

In closing the minister highlighted the fact that the company’s involvement in this new venture was symbolic of the relationship that obtained and, was another example of the confidence of foreign investors in the prospects for doing business in Jamaica.