Global marine terminal operator DP World has opened its state-of-the-art Inland Container Terminal (ICT) in Lahore, the Pakistan's second largest city.

DP World Lahore, also known as the Prem Nagar Dry Port, was inaugurated by Shahid Hussain Raza, chairman, Pakistan’s Ministry of Railways.

DP World Lahore, the first Public Private Partnership (PPP) project by the Ministry of Railways, is directly linked by rail to Qasim International Container Terminal (QICT), a premier gateway port managed and operated by DP World Karachi more than 1,000 km away.

The ICT’s inauguration closely follows the opening of Terminal 2 in Port Qasim on January 12, which expanded QICT’s capacity from 900,000 TEU (twenty foot equivalent container units) to around 1.2 million TEU, part of DP World’s three-phase development plans in Pakistan and the largest ever investment in the port sector there.

The ICT facility is built on over 40 hectares of land and is connected by an extensive network of railway lines and roads to some of the country’s most populous areas. The terminal will be managed and operated by DP World in a joint venture with Premier Mercantile Services (PMS), one of Pakistan’s largest maritime terminal operators.

Designed and developed to international standards, DP World Lahore offers the local trading community a 25,000 sq ft fully-equipped Container Freight Station (CFS) and will also provide local haulage services beyond the gate to the customers’ doorstep.

“We thank the Government of Pakistan for collaborating with DP World to create their first PPP project involving the railways,” stated Mohammed Sharaf, chief executive officer, DP World.-TradeArabia News Service