Technical and financing innovations for developing green and efficient ports were highlighted during the first flagship connectivity investment conference hosted by the Multilateral Cooperation Center for Development Finance (MCDF) and seven multilateral development banks (MDBs) in Beijing on 4-5 December. It was preceded by a field visit to Tianjin Port on 3 December.
The seminar was co-organized with the Asian Development Bank (ADB), Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), African Development Bank (AfDB), CAF – Development Bank of Latin America and the Caribbean, International Finance Corporation (IFC), Islamic Development Bank (IsDB), and World Bank, as well as ADB’s Regional Knowledge Sharing Initiative (RKSI). It convened experts from these partners, port authority and ministry officials from 19 developing countries in multiple regions, other financiers, and private sector representatives engaged in port development.
Participants discussed port sector trends, case studies, and lessons learned, with an emphasis on cutting-edge solutions to challenges covering the conference’s themes of sustainability, digital transformation, operational efficiency, and financing.
In opening remarks, MCDF CEO Zhongjing Wang described the importance of building the efficiency, sustainability, and financing of ports to facilitate trade and the growth of developing countries. He explained how MCDF promotes sustainable, high-quality port infrastructure investment through project preparation and capacity building grants and information sharing.
“Supporting maritime transport is at the core of MCDF’s cross-border connectivity infrastructure focus, and MCDF grants are now supporting port investments in 5 countries across Africa, Asia, and Latin America and the Caribbean,” CEO Wang noted. “MCDF brings together International Financial Institution partners to showcase standards and expertise to ensure project quality and sustainability,” he added.
A panel of MDB experts overviewed the status of MDB port portfolios and priorities for engagement, lending, and advisory work toward green and efficient port development.
The panelists included Mr. Adrian Sammons, Senior Transport Specialist (Maritime Transport and Ports) at ADB, Mr. Manuel Benard, Senior Investment Officer and Transport Manager at AIIB, Mr. Fausto Arroyo, Principal Executive, Regional Integration Directorate at CAF, Mr. André Van Hoeck, Principal Investment Officer, Infrastructure and Natural Resources Sector at IFC, Mr. Atiq Ahmad, IsDB’s Lead Global Transport Specialist, and Mr. Jan Hoffmann, the World Bank’s Global Lead, Maritime Transport and Ports.
The panelists spotlighted a cross-section of MDB strategies and activities for enhancing port sustainability and efficiency, such as ADB’s forthcoming Green Port Toolkit, CAF’s Blue Economy and Decarbonization of Latin American Ports, IsDB’s Ports Capacity Assessment of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation Countries, and the World Bank’s Container Port Performance Index.
The subsequent session on green ports detailed the consistent push among participating ports for greater sustainability in port construction and operations in developing countries to reduce the negative impact on local air quality, congestion, and ecosystems, and gradually cut greenhouse gas emissions from operations, in line with Nationally Determined Contributions under the Paris Agreement.
The session on digital transformation and smart and efficient ports explored how new technologies such as blockchain, autonomous vehicles, and artificial intelligence are changing the port operating landscape and significantly increasing the operational efficiency and profitability of ports.
The financing session explored the introduction of new financial instruments within the port sector, including guarantees, green bonds and other thematic bonds, innovative public-private partnership structures, and climate-linked insurance. Participants acknowledged that the mainstream use of these financing instruments is still a long way off and spotlighted initial examples of their use.
Country presentations detailed the increasing digitalization and efficiency of ports in Shanghai and Tianjin in China, Busan in the Republic of Korea, Chittagong in Bangladesh, and South Africa and how efficiency gains have helped to substantially reduce these ports’ environmental impacts. Participants also discussed efficiency “beyond the port gates,” particularly the interaction between ports and nearby cities, ports and railways, and short sea shipping services.
Participants underscored the role of collaboration in promoting green and efficient ports. Discussions looked at digital and collaborative port networks supported by CAF in Latin America, an MCDF grant-supported Africa Ports Portal project being implemented by AfDB to collect and share information leading to benchmarking and good-practice sharing, and activities of the sub-regional port management associations of North Africa, East and South Africa, and West and Central Africa.
Sustainability solutions were shared across different regions, including good practices on onshore power from India, integrated environmental systems from Thailand and Sri Lanka, marine conservation practices from Colombia, new energy solutions from Egypt and China, and climate action programs from Pakistan and Comoros.
The conference also featured unique knowledge-exchange sessions in which participants from the ports sector in Cambodia, Colombia, Ecuador, Seychelles, and Viet Nam presented challenges in green port standards, digitalization, and legislation they have been addressing and received practical feedback from other participants.
MCDF’s Ms. Linghui Cai presented on grant support for port development through the MCDF Finance Facility. Port representatives from Ecuador and Seychelles described how MCDF grant support is helping them prepare high-quality projects based on International Financial Institution standards to open up financing by CAF for a Galápagos logistics infrastructure project and AfDB for a Seychelles Port Authority strategic investment project, respectively.
Contact
David Hendrickson
Senior Communications Officer
Mobile: +86 185 0114 6758
david.hendrickson@themcdf.org
