Limbe seaport construction to begin in August

Korean Ambassador to Cameroon, Cho June Hyuck has said that Limbe Deep Sea Port has a good number of advantages over Douala Seaport.

He was speaking last Thursday, June 12, in Limbe, during a ceremony to launch free medical services for the population of Isongo and the surrounding communities that play host to the Limbe Deep Seaport Development Project.

Addressing the media at the end of the ceremony, the Korean Ambassador disclosed that the Cameroon Korean relationship is fast growing in terms of economic cooperation.

He added that “the Limbe Deep Sea Port Project is one of our economic cooperation projects; the project is very promising and has great potentials in terms of economic growth in Cameroon.” He said.

Comparing the two seaports, the Ambassador said Douala has a river base port

hence there is a limit for it to grow while Limbe is a sea-based port with much room to grow.

He said the objectives of Korea in Cameroon is to be a genuine partner in the economic and social sectors and hoped that the local population can join in by providing workforce so as to benefit from the project.

The governments of Cameroon and Korea signed a partnership agreement to construct a multifunctional deep seaport in Limbe, November 1, 2013.

The accord with a Korean firm, Limbe Port Industrial Development Corporation (LIPID), was signed by Sang Ki-Yi, President, and Jeawon Lee, Director General of LIPID and four Cameroonian Ministers; Robert Nkili, Jacqueline Koung à Bessiké, Emmanuel Nganou Djoumessi and Alamine Ousmane Mey.

The project is being developed through the public-private partnership agreement, on the basis of Build, Own, Operate and Transfer. It emerged from the event that some 220 million dollars (about 100 billion CFA francs) will be needed for the port’s project.

Speaking earlier while presenting the project to the Administration and other partners, Dia Mohammed Iya, the Assistant Project Manager of LIPID said as of now the company has acquired a license and permits for the site, including a 150 Ha industrial zone.

She announced that construction work for the Project will take off effectively in August 2014. Mohammed Iya explained that the vision of the company is to make the Seaport a new Regional Hub Port and the First Modern Industrial and Free Trade Zone in the West African Region.

She added that the project would improve the logistics and transportation infrastructures of Cameroon and its neighboring countries, develop the first modern Industrial Port and Free Trade Zone, provide attractive investment and business opportunities in the Central and West African Market and above all, create more than 20,000 direct and in-direct new jobs.