Sri Lanka’s Colombo International Container Terminal voted the Best Container Terminal in Asia
The Colombo International Container Terminal (CICT) of Sri Lanka, which is managed by CMPort has reportedly been voted the Best Container Terminal in Asia in the Under 4 million TEUs category at the prestigious Asian Freight, Logistics and Supply Chain (AFLAS) Awards hosted and presented by Asia Cargo News
CICT is the only deep water terminal in the Port of Colombo.
The local media has reported that is the third consecutive year that CICT has won this award intended to honour organisations for demonstrating leadership as well as consistency in service quality, innovation, customer relationship management, and reliability.
The awards ceremony was held at the Asia Society Hong Kong Centre, Hong Kong, following a nomination and voting process that allowed more than 15,000 readers of Asia Cargo News and e-news subscribers to first determine the leading companies in the market and then select the winners, making the results the opinion of service users rather than that of a panel of judges.
According to reports, to win the award in its category, CICT had to compete with the top eight shortlisted terminals nominated on the basis of criteria that were laid down by the publication and face a technical evaluation.
Accordingly, the evaluation process had included asking readers of Asia Cargo News open-ended questions to nominate their preferred container terminals in 48 categories. Nominees had to adhere to criteria standards encompassing higher operational productivity, efficient turnaround of trucks delivering and picking up containers; provision of suitable container shipping-related infrastructure; cost competitiveness, customer service level and customer satisfaction; timely and adequate investment in new facilities to meet future demand; innovative operating environment, facilitation of ancillary services and ease of doing business activities; and effective and easy-to-use IT systems.
The other three terminals among the top four in the Under 4 million TEUs category were DaChan Bay Terminals (China), Jakarta International Container Terminal (Indonesia), and Laem Chabang International Terminal (Thailand).
Commenting on CICT winning this award for the third consecutive year, the company’s CEO Jack Huang has been quoted as saying, “The award is a testament to CICT’s dedication to consistent delivery of high levels of service to the global shipping lines that use our terminal. It is through their votes that we have once again been bestowed this honour, and we pledge to maintain and exceed their expectations in the future. The commitment to excellence by members of ‘Team CICT’ warrants special mention, as it is their hard work that ultimately culminates in our achievements.”
OSL take:
The international recognition received by Sri Lanka’s CICT is indicative of the developments in the country’s shipping and maritime sector. The government of Sri Lanka is engaged in an aggressive development and reforms programme to achieve maritime hub status for the country in the Indian Ocean region. Given Sri Lanka’s geographical positioning in the Indian Ocean and the many trade agreements enjoyed by the country, Sri Lanka is the ideal business destination in the South Asian region. Therefore, foreign businesses/investors could explore business/investment opportunities in Sri Lanka as well as in the maritime sector.
| Article Code : | VBS/AT/21062019/Z_5 |