Abu Dhabi – Mubasher: Gulftainer has won a 50-year concession in the US state of Delaware to operate and develop the Port of Wilmington.

Under the concession agreement, the privately-owned port operator and logistics company will invest $600 million to upgrade and expand the port’s terminal, according to Emirates News Agency (WAM).

"This historic agreement will result in significant new investment in the Port of Wilmington, which has long been one of Delaware's most important industrial job centres,” Delaware governor John Carney commented.

The Emirati company is planning to invest $400 million, out of the announced total, to establish a 1.2 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) container facility at DuPont’s former Edgemoor site, WAM added.

"We are confident that this public-private partnership will propel the Port of Wilmington towards becoming the principal gateway of the Eastern Seaboard,” Gulftainer’s chairman Badr Jafar said.

Gulftainer’s projected upgrades in the market also including the development of all cargo terminal capabilities at the facility and the enhancement of its overall productivity, along with the establishment of a training facility at the development site specifically for the Ports and Logistics industries.