Gulftainer Company Limited: Port Management Principles

Gulftainer was founded in 1976 in Sharjah, UAE. From its modest beginnings as a company operating in the third largest UAE city, next to Dubai and Abu Dhabi, it has evolved into a widely-recognized player in the port management industry with its new additional port facilities located in Iraq, Lebanon, Brazil, Russia and Saudi Arabia. In Middle East alone, the company operates 8 terminals, more than any other company in the region. Gulftainer, under the leadership of Peter Richards, Group Managing Director, and Ramesh Shivakumaran, Group Director Business Services, has gained a high reputation as a dependable provider of productivity and customer-focused service.

What are the principles that apply in this complex, high-investment, extremely-competitive industry sector? Here are a few guidelines to give us a working knowledge of how Gulftainer achieved its own position as a leader in the industry:

1.    Completely understanding the role of ports in international trade and transport

A thorough comprehension of the important role that ports play in the global trade and transportation industry is a must for anyone who plans to engage in this endeavor, whether as an entrepreneur, investor, consultant, employee or affiliate. As we mentioned, it is a complex venture with a wide coverage not just geographically but also logistically, socially and politically. One must recognize the respected leaders in the industry and gain enough insight into the general nature of the business and who are the people and institutions involved in it. One also needs to determine the degree of involvement one needs to achieve in order to maintain a viable level of performance in the business. No, it may not be time to look into the profitability of the venture; for it is almost a given that, as long as one maintains a relatively tight management control, one will find the business potentially profitable.

2.    Recognizing how ports can benefit or detract from the economics development of countries and their sea-borne trade.

Corollary to the first, one needs to fathom the extent to which ports will serve the goals of the country in which they are located as well as the effects they have on the trade conditions of countries with which they deal with. This requires looking more closely into the dynamics of trade and transport as tandem operations involving real entities (whether we are talking of individuals, companies or countries) with particular goals and visions. For instance, with the growing reach of China's trade with world and the gradual realization of its low-quality products and even intentional use of toxic and harmful materials and food-based products, it would seem suicidal to go forth and follow the band wagon to the giant nation's doorsteps at this time. Attaining a trade relationship that brings mutual benefits to trading partner-nations may be difficult at first to achieve; but in the long run, it will bring stable economic advantages to all concerned.

3.    Understanding the effect of globalization on port location and how the dynamics of logistics and distribution patterns affect the growth or decline of ports

The ongoing deliberations among nations toward a complete globalization status will eventually clarify the motivations of the big-player-nations vis-à-vis the smaller developing nations. Globalization, for all its good intentions, will tend to favor the rich nations' agenda for economic control or advantage.