DUBAI, 12th May, 2020 (WAM) — The Ministry of Energy and Infrastructure announced the transformational project “Blue Traffic” in partnership with “Mary Hub”, which aims to build a gathering of local and international maritime authorities to exchange their services, raise the level of competitiveness of the national maritime sector and enhance the UAE’s position to be among the best. Maritime centers around the world.
The project also aims to build qualitative packages of privileges and facilities that increase the competitiveness of the national maritime sector and enhance its attractiveness to international investors to provide added value to the maritime companies operating in the country in addition to the commercial vessels that visit its ports.
The “Blue Traffic” project is considered one of the transformational projects within the performance agreements of the federal government agencies for the year 2022, which represent qualitative projects that move the country towards the future and enhance its competitiveness.. Also, such transformational projects are characterized by achieving a significant impact in all sectors within short periods of time, in a way that ensures the application of the methodology The new government work of the UAE government.
The project supports the UAE government’s efforts to accelerate the achievement of the objectives of developing an interconnected and technologically superior infrastructure within the vision of “We Are the Emirates 2031”, which requires specific and multiplied efforts that contribute to achieving government aspirations and reflect positively on society and the various sectors of the country.
The project is a major supporter of contributing to making the country the global center for the new economy based on knowledge and data during the next ten years..The project also seeks, through its advanced digital portal and its smart application on mobile phones, to build a unified base of companies operating in the maritime sector and commercial vessels located in The country’s ports and territorial waters, in addition to yachts and recreational ships, to be able to display its services transparently and easily to all members of the platform, to employ e-commerce capabilities in providing supplies and supportive services at competitive prices, unifying the purchasing power of these companies and ships, and turning them into discounts, quality incentives, special offers, and competitive privileges.
His Excellency Suhail bin Mohammed Al Mazrouei, Minister of Energy and Infrastructure, said: “The UAE leads many indicators of international competitiveness in the maritime sector, and ranks third in the world in supplying ship fuel, fifth in the world among the best marine centers, and twelfth in the transport lines index, thanks to the environment.” The competitive business that we have succeeded in creating in the UAE, which attracts major global maritime companies and makes the country’s ports the preferred destination for international shipping lines. The status of the maritime state because our destiny is to connect the world and be its first maritime center, and we will be keen to enhance the sustainability of the maritime sector and reward all companies and ships that adopt green practices, so that blue traffic is an incentive to build a clean maritime sector.
His Excellency pointed out that this initiative complements many initiatives that seek in their entirety to support the contribution of the maritime sector to the gross domestic product of the UAE, whose contribution is currently estimated at about AED 90 billion annually, so that the UAE blue economy becomes a major pillar of the national economy, stressing the role of the project in supporting the fifty-year goals. Upcoming, national circular economy and sustainable development.
--For his part, His Excellency Eng. Hassan Mohammed Juma Al Mansouri, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Energy and Infrastructure for Infrastructure and Transport Affairs, said that the maritime sector is one of the sectors that rely most on routine methods and personal relationships in doing business, which makes it difficult to obtain the supplies and services that maritime companies and commercial ships need in general. Smooth, which prompted us to search for innovative solutions that help facilitate doing business to help reduce expenses for operational processes and avoid wasting time spent on supply operations. Therefore, we launched the “Blue Traffic” project to enable our partners to access all marine services through a unified digital portal and a smart mobile application to enable ship operators and employees of marine companies to obtain their needs at the touch of a button without any effort.
For her part, His Excellency Eng. Hessa Al Malek, Adviser to His Excellency the Minister of Energy and Infrastructure for Maritime Transport Affairs, said: “The work of the Blue Traffic Project is not limited to providing a unified digital portal for marine services and supplies, but rather goes beyond it to create an integrated maritime business community in which everyone can be a service provider at a time when In which everyone gets requests and the best facilities.In addition to unifying the common needs of sea vessels and companies operating in the sector to create a unified purchasing power that allows obtaining collective discounts for various types of services, including supportive services such as financing, insurance, training and port services.In short, the blue traffic project will reshape an environment Investing in the maritime sector in the country and the region in general creates qualitative incentives that attract investors.”
For his part, Karim Al-Najjar, founder and CEO of Mary Hub, emphasized that the UAE is unique in stimulating creativity and innovation and considering it a major component within its system in government work, as the maritime sector receives a great deal of attention from decision-makers to move it from its current model based on routine transactions to become a smart sector that benefits from The power of data and information to add value to the marine industry.
He added: “Since our inception, we have seen the great opportunity that could be posed by uniting all the actors in the sector and building a unified digital base for corporate services to facilitate immediate access to them and enable those wishing to do business in the maritime sector to enter easily and join the UAE blue economy to benefit from its promising investment opportunities.” “.
Al-Najjar explained that the Blue Traffic initiative will move maritime services to an advanced stage to create new rules for buying and selling, exchanging benefits and negotiating to obtain incentives and facilities in the maritime sector, expressing his confidence that this model will become a unique success story for the maritime sector in the UAE, and many countries in the world will be keen to repeat it. This experience and learning from Emirati experiences.
The Blue Traffic project integrates with many qualitative projects and initiatives previously launched by the Ministry of Energy and Infrastructure, most notably the “Maritime Network” initiative, which seeks to build a global network of professionals and experts to enhance the competitiveness of the UAE maritime sector and market it globally based on the strong presence of international maritime companies in the UAE.
