Mark Van Peel, President of Antwerp Port, the second largest European port owned by the local government, feels that while government should play the role of landlord port, concessions or development rights to private investors should be given based on welfare parameters rather than raising maximum funds. In an interview, Peel, who is visiting India, shared his views on promoting the use of LNG at Antwerp and other issues. Edited Excerpts:
What are your investment plans in India?
Our relationship with Essar was fruitful (Antwerp invested €25 million in Essar Ports in 2012, and exited with capital gains of €6.8 million in December 2015). We are going to continue to cooperate with them, but also look for other partners. We will meet others regarding furthering business through two subsidiaries – The APEC training centre with JN Port (JNPT) and Port of Antwerp International that looks after investment and does consultancy.
‘Govt should play the role of landlord port’
