Abu Dhabi Ports and its subsidiary Maqta Gateway LLC have started implementing the first international blockchain project in partnership with the Port of Antwerp, Belgium. This has been announced at GITEX Technology Week that is going on now in Dubai, informs Thomson Reuters’ Middle East edition Zawya.
Maqta Gateway became the first local entity in Abu Dhabi to develop and launch its own blockchain technology project in June 2018. “Silsal” is an innovative solution that uses the open digital ledger system to allow participants of the international trade to record and extract transaction details with greater security, transparency and efficiency, thus providing a seamless and secure link between all stakeholders across the trading community.
The Silsal project has already been rolled out in several operational phases and now will be offered to freight forwarders and their customers, and subsequently to all other supply chain participants as a complementary tool to Maqta Port Community System.
Besides, the Port of Antwerp and Maqta Gateway now start testing Silsal at the international level. The product is expected to play a vital role in the trade between the UAE and Belgium by providing full cargo visibility and streamlining trade flows and supply chains. As part of the pilot project, Maqta Gateway will use Silsal to run a Proof of Concept test with the Port of Antwerp for handling international trade documentation using blockchain technology. The capabilities of the technology to exchange, identify and acknowledge cargo documents and certificates between Abu Dhabi Ports and the Port of Antwerp will be trialed during Q4 2018.
Commenting on Silsal’s first international project, Captain Mohamed Juma Al Shamisi, CEO of Abu Dhabi Ports, said: “This is an important moment for us as we prepare to implement the first applied blockchain solution of its kind between Abu Dhabi and the world. Our technology experts at Maqta Gateway are working with world-class international partners, such as the Port of Antwerp, to deliver fast, reliable, and secure trade transactions through rigorous development and testing programs.”
Recent research of World Economic Forum in collaboration with Bain and Company has revealed that distributed ledger technology such as blockchain could boost trade by more than USD 1 trillion in the next 10 years, by way of dismantling financing barriers for small and medium-sized enterprises and emerging markets.
Abu Dhabi Ports is the developer and operator of commercial ports within the emirate of Abu Dhabi: its flagship asset Khalifa Port, the first semi-automated container port in the region, the Port of Fujairah, as well as the trade and logistics hub, Khalifa Industrial Zone Abu Dhabi.
