No real change at DP World

“We are continuing to focus on growth but it has to be done carefully,” Anwar A Wajdi, senior vice president, Commercial and Corporate Strategy confirmed to Port Strategy.

Mr Wajdi added that the company is still looking for port projects: “We are always looking for viable long-term and value-adding projects. It has to be profitable.”

Projects in Africa and South America top the hitlist, although Mr Wajdi would not be draswn on specific sites or ports. “We think South America is a growth area and strategically we want to be there,” he explained.

As for the company’s home base facility of Jebel Ali, he said the financial crisis had put the proposed extension of Terminal Three on hold for the time. Mr Wajdi also acknowledged the challenge of dealing with the economy had prompted a change of culture within DP World with more decisions being delegated to local offices.

People, he said, have to look at their cash flows and how they operate their units “very, very carefully”.

This, he added, is not an easy process but is an “opportunity for those in the field”.