Ms. Sylvie Vachon, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Montreal Port Authority, announced in a speech made at Hot issues@lunch networking event organized by the Board of Trade of Metropolitan Montreal (BTMM) that an interim committee has been set up to analyze the possibilities of forming a logistics and transportation industrial cluster in the Montreal region. Sylvie Vachon chairs this committee, which was established at the initiative of the Communauté métropolitaine de Montréal (CMM). “This initiative by the CMM and its Government of Quebec partners confirms the status of Montreal and its port as a transportation hub. Creating this industrial
cluster fosters the inception of promising projects for Greater Montreal,” stated Ms. Vachon. Port activity supports 18,200 jobs and generates $1.5 billion in economic spin-offs per year.
On the Port of Montreal’s capacity to meet global market demands and the needs of Port of Montreal clients, Ms. Vachon pointed out that investment projects currently underway on Port of Montreal territory will make it possible to raise the annual maximum container handling capacity from 1.6 million to 2 million containers by 2016. At the same time, in 2010 the Montreal Port Authority completed technical studies on its Contrecoeur site,
where the port could expand when the time comes. “We still have to validate several parameters, including the matter of funding that we’re now looking into,” stated Ms. Vachon. This project could bring the Port of Montreal’s maximum container capacity to more than 3 million containers, by 2018, close to double its current capacity.

Source: TransportWeekly