HIP showcased at Transport and Logistics Exhibition in Munich

The team from HIPG at the HIP stall. From left: Manager – Port Related Industry Sabrina Edirisinghe, Assistant General Manager – Commercial and Marketing Bindu Ranasinghe, HIPG COO Tissa Wickramasinghe, Senior Manager – Commercial and Marketing Chandula Rambukwella, and HIPG GM – Operations Sylesh Peerez

 From left: Manager – Port Related Industry Sabrina Edirisinghe, Senior Manager – Commercial and Marketing Chandula Rambukwella, HIPG COO Tissa Wickramasinghe, Parliamentary State Secretary Steffen Bilger, Ports, Shipping and Southern Development Minister Sagala Ratnayake, Assistant General Manager – Commercial and Marketing Bindu Ranasinghe, and HIPG GM – Operations Sylesh Peerez

HIPG COO Tissa Wickramasinghe giving a brief account of the marketing and development plan to Minister Sagala Ratnayake at the HIPG stall

Hambantota International Port (HIP) was a key participant at ‘Transport Logistics 2019’, the world’s premier transport and logistics exhibition held in Munich, Germany held last week. The port which is the newest addition to the international maritime map was an important feature at the prestigious exposition of international logistical services which had 2,374 exhibitors and around 64,000 visitors from all over the world attending. 

The Sri Lankan delegation, of which Hambantota International Port Group (HIPG) representatives were a part of, held several high-powered meetings with decision-makers of Germany’s leading logistics and engineering companies. Hellmann Worldwide Logistics, Hapag-Lloyd, Hamburg Port Consulting, Siemens Digital Logistics business, DHL, DB Schenker and Kuehne + Nagel were some of the top-level players they met with.   The Lankan delegation who attended the meetings was headed by Ports, Shipping and Southern Development Minister Sagala Ratnayake while the HIPG team was led by veteran shipping executive and HIPG Chief Operating Officer Tissa Wickramasinghe.

“This is the first time in my entire career that I was challenged with positioning an entire port with all it services. But these are exciting times and we are proud to be trailblazers not only in positioning our multipurpose port but also the opportunity of placing Sri Lanka on the world’s maritime map, in an altogether new way,” said Tissa Wickramasinghe.

He says, from a marketing point of view, his team’s participation in the prestigious exhibition is significant, as it gave them the opportunity to showcase the port to the maritime world. “For us Sri Lankans, Hambantota is a well-known historic port, but to the world at large it is relatively new. No one knows about HIP’s deep water capability and the vast area of land surrounding the port, well primed for development.” 

The COO says the exhibition was the ideal platform for them to display the port’s gamut of services coupled with its many strategic advantages. 

HIPG, as an organisational strategy, is promoting the multipurpose Hambantota Port as an entirely new proposition. The marketing pitch of the company is based on the variety of cargo and unique port services that are being provided by the port. 

The COO says that is the reason why they decided to have their own stall at ‘Transport Logistics 2019’.  “Although we are one in promoting Sri Lanka, we are also different in our positioning because Hambantota is a multipurpose port, and our priorities and sales pitch is obviously quite different.”

HIP’s full range of services include container handling, general cargo, RORO, passenger, bunkering, bulk terminal, gas, and project cargo. The port is well on its way to becoming one-of-a-kind in Sri Lanka, as it is the only port in the country designed to handle such a wide range of services in the maritime and logistics fields. HIP which has been gearing for ease of doing business for a while now, recently partnered with the Sri Lanka’s Board of Investment (BOI) to establish a one-stop service centre within the port premises. The centre provides facilitation services, including the granting of investment concessions to prospective investors.  HIP which is a Public Private Partnership (PPP) entered into between the SLPA, and global port operator CMPort has not only doubled its RORO services, but has diversified its services to include a number of port related activities such as container handling, general cargo, passenger, bunkering, bulk terminal gas and project cargo. HIPG has signed TSA’s with several leading RORO shipping lines, and is well on its way to becoming one-of-a-kind in Sri Lanka.

In addition to its maritime services, the port has drawn a master plan to become a logistics hub in the region, with warehouses, storage areas, and distribution centres being set up within its premises. This location is ideally suited not only because of its strategic position on the maritime map, but also owing to the approximately 3.5 square kilometres of vast land area, dedicated for port-related industries.  An additional 50 square kilometres of land just outside the port perimeter is allocated for an industrial zone, and investments by the GOSL, in utility infrastructure and highway connectivity to the area is already underway.

This maritime and logistics hub is intended to serve as a catalyst to develop a logistics-centred economy. HIP will be the only port in the country designed to handle a full gamut of services in the maritime and logistics area. 

Once construction of basic facilities and other infrastructure are in place, the second stage of building standardised warehouses and attracting high value-added industries will begin, followed by upstream, middle and downstream industries in the final phase of the industrial park, which may include food processing and automobile services, amongst others.

HIP is also the only port in the region to supply bunkering facilities to ships calling at the port, and those moving on sea lanes, with IMO-compliant low Sulphur fuel oil. The HIPG has already entered into an agreement with global giant Sinopec who will be their strategic bunkering partner. Located between Singapore and Fujairah, the number one and two bunker suppliers to the world respectively, HIP is well placed to exploit the potential of this trade. HIP is positioned to be the one-stop logistics platform that caters to all, offering an integrated package that could be tailor made to their customers’ needs. Reinforced by Hambantota’s geographic location, the port offers an unparalleled experience of air and sea connectivity. In order to achieve these goals, HIP has taken into consideration, their close proximity to the Mattala airport and built processes for air-sea cargo movement.

The Hambantota Port is in line with the national vision for port development in Sri Lanka and responds to the SLPA’s future growth plans for a modern port, free of urban restrictions, assuring long-term expansion capacity and a world standard industrial and logistics zone. A platform that can receive main players of port, maritime, industrial and logistics sectors, that adhere to the highest standards of integrity. The Sri Lankan economy is entering a new phase in its development strategies where PPPs are being taken on to synergise the country’s approach to meeting market challenges. HIPG is of the belief that these new policies will unlock investments in the micro, small and medium sized sectors, which will indirectly promote a trickledown effect into the larger economy which would in turn have a direct impact on growth, job opportunities and ultimately prosperity for the nation.