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ELISABETH BORNE LAUNCHES THE NORTH CORRIDOR INTERPORT AND LOGISTICS COOPERATION COUNCIL IN DUNKERQUE
18th april 2019

On Monday, Elisabeth Borne, Minister for Transport, attached to the Ministre d’État, Minister for the Ecological and Inclusive Transition, chaired the inaugural session of the North Corridor Interport and Logistics Cooperation Council in Dunkerque.

In the meeting attended by the elected representatives of the three major local authorities of the Hauts de France coastline, Boulogne with Frédéric Cuvillier, Calais and Dunkerque with Patrice Vergiete, from the Hauts-de-France Regional Council with Franck Dhersin, transport and multimodality stakeholders from the Hauts-de-France region (the ports of Calais-Boulogne and Dunkerque), the Getlink "dry port", the road, rail and river infrastructure managers, as well as the entire network of platforms that structure the French hub of the North corridor), the Norlink association, Elisabeth Borne held a round table to discuss the major operations under way in the region.

During the CIMer (Interministerial Council for the Sea), which was also held in Dunkerque
on 15 November 2018, Prime Minister Edouard Philippe engaged France in a large-scale project: to make the country a major European port nation with 3 main gateways including Dunkerque for the North corridor.

During the inaugural session, the Major Seaport of Dunkerque was represented by Emmanuelle Verger, Chairman of the Supervisory Board, and Stéphane Raison, President of the Executive Board of Dunkerque-Port. Stéphane Raison gave a presentation in 4 points: the economy and the new facilities that have set up site over the last 4 years, the development of multimodal transport, the environmental issues, and, finally, the presentation of the work done to prepare for Brexit.

Stéphane Raison said: "Three years ago, the NORLINK PORTS association was born at the initiative of the Regional Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the ports of Lille and Dunkerque-Port, the Hauts de France, the largest port complex in France, with three seaports and 20 interconnected multimodal platforms. Dunkerque-Port is also opening up to the whole of France via its rail network which it is developing with new connections. Finally, Dunkerque-Port will soon deliver Europe's first electrical service for container ships and this year it will inaugurate its LNG refuelling station for shipping and overland transport."

He also described the latest industrial and logistic developments for the Minister. The high point at the end of the day took place outside, to inaugurate the completion of the work of the la Digue des Alliés and the signing of the agreement making it available to the Urban Community of Dunkerque.

Elisabeth Borne was pleased to see, with the set-up of the Interport Cooperation Council,
"An entire region deciding to join forces and move forward together, and a great step towards making our port project a success."

About Dunkerque-Port:

The largest port complex in France (Calais-Dunkerque); the ninth largest port on the Channel and North Sea Range and France's third-largest port, Dunkerque-Port has built a reputation in many sectors: it is the largest passenger port in Europe (Calais-Dunkerque hub); France's largest energy hub; the country's largest LNG terminal; the leading French port for containerised fruit and vegetable imports; the largest French port for ore and coal imports; France's largest rail port; the region's largest waterway port; and the third-ranking French port for grain traffic. Dunkerque-Port is also a sustainable port. It is the trading port of the new Hauts-de-France Region, the largest agricultural region of France, the leading region for the rail industry, and the leading region for the car industry. 2018 Traffic: 51.6 Mt

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