A Dossier on Visakhapatnam
Antwerp Port welcoming Indian exporters to do business
Belgium Customs Attache says the New Delhi office offers all necessary support to Indian Exports
Visakha City, August 6, 2010
A seminar on Antwerp as the Gateway to Europe was organized by the Vizagapatnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Port of Antwerp at the Neptune Hall, The Park on August 7, 2010. Mr. Vijay Kumar of the Chamber of Commerce welcomed the guests and the gathering.
Raj Khalid, Indian Representative of the Port of Antwerp
Mr. Raj Khalid, the Indian Representative of the Port of the Antwerp began with a presentation on the advantages offered by the Port of Antwerp. He began by explaining that though the port is 200 years old, it is only 15 - 20 years ago that it began to be open to true global operations and that the Indian office is their first office of the Port outside Belgium.
Raj said that the Port is looking for tie up with India and is welcoming to make partnerships. The Indian office aims at reaching out to customers and by assisting exporters to the country. He says that the Port wants has unique advantages and can is positioned to easily connect to many major destinations of Europe. It has good connectivity with major European destinations via multimodal transportation systems. About 200 trains leave the port every day to various European locations. 1/3rd of the transportation from the port to other locations will be via trains and another 1/3rd by trucks.
The Port of Antwerp is #1 in handling steel, forest products such as paper logs, timber etc., fruits such as Bananas etc. The all-weather Steel handling infrastructure of the port can handle various type of steel. The Port has special infrastructure for the storage and transportation of petro chemicals and gas. The Port offers cost effective rates for ground storage and the best in the European region. Raj said that Port is open for partnerships with other Indian Ports in offering training and consultancy services.
H.E. Joel Schittecatte, the Consul-General of Belgium with Vijay Kumar of Vizagapatnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry
H.E. Joel Schittecatte, the Consul-General of Belgium spoke of Belgium, its historic perspective and how the country began to open itself. He spoke about the need for the formation of the European Union. He said that the mindset of Belgium has changed and is now making friends with nations across the globe. He said that growing number of Indian companies are opening their offices in Belgium and are getting open to do business with the nation. He said that nation truly believes and provides the freedom of movement of People, Goods, Capital and Services.
Werner Van Der Cruyssen, the Customs Attache, Federal Public Service Finance of the Embassy of Belgium, New Delhi
Werner Van Der Cruyssen, the Customs Attache, Federal Public Service Finance of the Embassy of Belgium, New Delhi spoke about the evolution of the European Union and more specifically about the Customs Union and how their policy of One Customs Tariff, One Goods Classification, One Customs Legislation helped the 27 member countries of the European Union helped them to boost economic activity in the region. He said that introduction of the single currency Euro has further helped the member countries.
Cruyssen said that there will be no customs duties at internal borders within the Customs Union and hence this will help exporters to Europe. Since Antwerp and hence Belgium is centrally located, the faster customs clearance system offered by them will save time and cost to get the exporter goods cleared. He said that 90% of the goods are electronically cleared without any physical examination. However, Import Authorization might be required for certain restricted chemicals. He said that they do not have detention system in general unless specifically required and that the goods are cleared without waiting for the analysis report to come. However, the risk of getting back the goods lies with the company in case the analysis report comes out negative.
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