b'MAY 10 - 23, 2021NORTH AMERICAS TRANSPORTATION & LOGIS TICS NEWSPAPER 5APSEZ, Indias main portSOUTHEAST ASIA development group looks to grow regionally & INDIA TRADE 21Indian strategy aims to build ports in region to aug-ment its maritime and also security interests.By Manik Mehta, AJOT Indiasdomainintheate-and-Transfer(BOT)basis Indian Ocean is driving it tofor a period of 35 years. Indian not only expand its maritimeexpertstoldtheAmerican tradebutalsoitssecurityJournal of Transportation that interests, particularly in con- theyseeAPSEZsinvolve-text of China building a vastment in the port development network of both sea and landasalogicalextensionof connectionswiththeregionAdamsinvolvementinSri throughitsBelt-and-RoadLankantransshipmentactiv-Initiative (BRI). ity.AnAPSEZspokesman India, together with Japan,said that 45% of Colombos hadinitiallymadeabidfortransshipment volumes origi-developmentoftheEastnated from or destined to an CargoTerminal(ECT)ofAdani Ports terminal in India ColomboPort,SriLanka,where it maintains an extensive but gave up after trade union(GROWcontinued on protestsagainstforeignpar- page 23) MSC vessel being stacked with containers at Colombo Port, Sri Lankaticipation made the Sri Lanka Government decline the com-bined India-Japan bid. Still in early March, the Sri LankanGovernmentagreed togivethedevelopmentof ColomboPortsWestCargo Terminal (WCT) to India and Japan.WhileJapanhadnot announcedtillrecentlythe nameofitsdeveloperfor theproject,Indiasmain portdeveloper,AdaniPorts &SpecialEconomicZone Ltd.(APSEZ)whichhas beenengagedinportandAS ONE, WE CAN. infrastructuredevelopment in many regions, announcedONE CONNECTS ASIA AND BEYONDthatitwillimplementthe WCT project. In a press release, APSEZWith weekly liner services to all major trade lanes around the world, saidthatithadreceivedaOcean Network Express (ONE) o\x02ers customers a superior level of service and LetterofIntent(LOI)from theSriLankanMinistryofconvenience when it comes to Trans-Pacic shipments between Asia and PortsandShippingandtheNorth America. This is further complemented by an ongoing eet expansion program SriLankaPortsAuthority,and the use of enhanced operational and service technologies, through which ONE is pursuanttoapprovalfrombetter equipped to connect with customers now and in the future.theSriLankanCabinetof Ministersforthedevelop-ment and operations of West ContainerTerminal(WCT) in Colombo, Sri Lanka.APSEZ CEO Karan Adani saidthattheprojectwasa continuation of the deep and mutuallybeneficialstrate-gicrelationshipbetweentwo neighboring nations whose his-tory is deeply intertwined.ApseZ sR egionAlR eAchAPSEZ has been recently inthenewsintheU.S., though for a different reason: the S&P Dow Jones indices saidthatitwasremoving APSEZ because of its alleged business ties with Myanmars military which faces charges of human rights abuses after amilitarycoupthisyear. APSEZisbuildinga$298 millionportinYangonon land leased from the military-backedMyanmarEconomic Corporation (MEC).The APSEZ will join forcesOcean Network Express(North America) Inc. 8730 Stony Point Parkway, Richmond, VA 23235with John Keells Holdings and theSriLankaPortAuthorityCustomer Service ( 844 ) 413 - 6029www.one-line.com(SLPA)todevelopColombo Ports WCT on a Build-Oper-'