Cornelder de Moçambique (CdM) recently held the "Beira Corridor Business Forum" in the city of Beira, Sofala province, a meeting that brought together national and foreign participants, with an emphasis on the southern African region.

The forum marked the celebration of Cornelder's 25th anniversary as manager of the Port of Beira, and essentially served as an opportunity for those present to discuss the current situation and possible solutions to the problems that exist.

The managing director of CdM, Jan de Vries, highlighted the history of Cornelder de Moçambique over the 25 years of its existence, the challenges faced and the investments made in recent years, both in human resources and in machinery and programs, which have contributed to the complete modernization of the services provided at the Port of Beira.

The Minister of Transport and Communications, Mateus Magala, and the Secretary of State for Sofala, Cecília Chamutota, hailed the efforts made by CdM over 25 years and the heavy investment made in recent years, which have led to the Port of Beira being classified by the World Bank as the most efficient in southern Africa in terms of containerized cargo performance.

The minister challenged CdM to work towards an annual cargo throughput of one million TEUs (Twenty-Foot Equivalent Units) at its Container Terminal (TC) over the next 15 years, guaranteed for the continued management of the Port of Beira.

At the moment, CdM handles around 300,000 TEUs a year and the target is to reach 700,000 TEUs in the next few years.

Reacting to the challenge proposed by the Minister of Transport and Communications, CdM's Deputy Executive Director, António Libombo, promised to work hard and pointed out that in order to reach one million TEUs, it is first necessary to reach the target set by the concessionaire of handling 700,000 TEUs a year.