International seaport of Antwerp sees no obstacles to Kazakh cargo

March 23, 2022, Antwerp – In order to promote Kazakhstani export products, and prevent unreasonable delays of Kazakh cargo, Ambassador M.Baimukhan met with Vice President of the International Port of Antwerp Luc Arnouts. During the meeting, the Kazakh diplomat appealed to the management and operators of the sea terminal not to discriminate against Kazakh cargo that is not subject to Western sanctions measures.

According to the management of the port, as of today, no cases of termination of transshipment of Kazakh cargo have been recorded. In addition, there are no decisions of the EU institutions and the Federal government of Belgium to block Kazakh cargo.

L.Arnouts assured that he would additionally inform the maritime operators operating at the port of Antwerp about the absence of restrictive measures against Kazakh cargo.

At the same time, the Kazakh Ambassador, in the context of the current unstable situation around international transport and transit corridors, spoke about the possibilities of alternative routes to minimize sanctions risks. In a practical way, M.Baimukhan proposed to intensify cooperation between Kazakh and Belgian commercial seaports and organize an online meeting of the heads of the four ports of Aktau, Kuryk, Antwerp, and Zeebrugge.

In turn, L.Arnouts expressed readiness to take part in the online meeting, offered to invite representatives of the customs services of the Kingdom of Belgium as well.

The parties agreed to continue work on the organization of joint training courses on the management of the port infrastructure of the two countries, as well as to begin work on drawing up a high-quality agenda for the upcoming online negotiations.

At the end of March 2022, Ambassador M.Baimukhan is scheduled to meet with the leadership of the European Organization of Seaports (ESPO). 

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The Belgian seaport of Antwerp is one of the 20 largest ports in the world and is the 2nd in the European Union (after the Port of Rotterdam in the Netherlands). The port occupies 13,000 hectares, 1,100 km of railways. About 143,000 jobs have been created in the port, 1,000 companies work, the share in Belgium’s GDP is 4.1%.

The APEC training center operates on the territory of the port, which organizes specialized courses and study trips for port employees of all levels, both in Belgium and abroad.