Dubai: DP World, one of the world’s largest port operators, is not concerned by plans by the Victorian state government in Australia to privatise a port where it is managing a container terminal.
The newly-elected Victorian Labor government has committed to selling the Port of Melbourne so that it can meet promises it made in the lead up to last year’s state election.
“We are going to be there,” Mohammad Sharaf, DP World chief executive officer, told reporters at the World Freezone Organisation first annual conference in Dubai on Tuesday.
The Port of Melbourne, located 3km from Australia’s second largest city, Melbourne, is the country’s busiest container terminal. It is set to be sold in the first quarter next year, according to reports.
DP World is also locked in a dispute with the Victorian government, which want to increase rates at the port by 750 per cent. This will reportedly increase DP World’s rates from about A$16 per square metre to A$120 per square metre.
“We are talking to the authorities... we are not happy,” Sharaf said.
Declining to state what would be a reasonable rate increase, he said the “discussions are ongoing.”
