In line with the MPA’s core value of international cooperation, the various teams continued their work to strengthen partnership ties with other national and international ports for the purpose of sharing best practices, exchanging information and deepening trade ties.
Port of Marseille Fos
An unprecedented five-year Cooperation Agreement was signed between the ports of Marseille Fos and Montreal, charting the way forward for a new business partnership and the creation of synergies in several areas, including trade and innovation. Growth in the container sector and related infrastructure projects are among the commonalities shared by the two port authorities. This partnership agreement will also strengthen already existing trade between the ports of Marseille Fos and Montreal, as well as the ties forged between the services and partners of both ports.
Port of Antwerp
A preferred trade partner of the Port of Montreal in the container sector, the Port of Antwerp renewed its partnership with the MPA in 2019. Over the course of 2020, more than twenty meetings between the various teams were held on the four pillars stipulated in the Cooperation Agreement: inter-port governance, trade, innovation, and sustainable development and energy transition.
Among the most successful joint projects were:
- The ePIcenter project (innovation pillar), which aims to design and launch large-scale projects to improve the efficiency, fluidity and performance of the global supply chain. Involving environmental and technology experts from around the world, it will offer concrete solutions to various supply chain challenges with a long-term sustainable vision. Notably, the project will make it possible to create a secure cyber trade corridor between the ports of Montreal and Antwerp.
- The refrigerated container market (trade pillar), which aims to improve the quality of services, visibility and long-term efficiency of the cold chain in both ports. This committee brings together several players in the cold chain, namely terminal operators, marine carriers, freight forwarders and other service providers.
Trois-Rivières Port Authority
Following the Cooperation Agreement between the ports of Montreal and Trois-Rivières signed at the end of 2018 aimed at improving their respective and/or common port services, three projects were launched in 2020. Aimed to improve the marine operations of both ports, these projects include implementing a common extranet portal to manage vessel arrivals, standardizing practices and procedures and implementing a single security access port pass for workers and visitors.