Rouen port is located in Normandy, between Le Havre and Paris. Rouen is a multimodal seaport directly linked to the port of Le Havre container terminals and to the Paris industrial and economic area. The port is a strategic place for investors and for the dispatch of goods imported to France. It is the most relevant logistics centre close to Paris.
Q: Can you tell me why you are here to promote your port and business in China?
A: Our main intention is to provide information on our wharf at port of Rouen, which is the closest seaport to Paris. The main container ships all dock in Le Havre port. The goods can then be transported up the river to our port in Rouen and later on to Paris. Our second reason for coming here is to look for Chinese companies who may be interested in using our warehouses in Rouen.
Q: There are other ports located near to your ports, which are competing for business. Can you tell me what the advantages are of using your port over the other rival ports?
A: Our main advantage is that we are the closest port to Paris and to the main industrial and economic area in France. It is cheaper to transport goods by ship than by road transportation, so the closer you can get your goods to their location by ship, the more money you will save on road transportation.
Q: Can you inform us about the facilities and equipment provided by your port?
A: The maximum depth of the ships we can handle is 10.5 meters. This means that we can accommodate for around 90 percent of the world fleet, but we cannot handle the container ships that weigh over 9 thousand tons. We also have an excellent road, rail and water transportation network connecting us to the rest of the country, for example a large motorway system connecting us to Paris and a direct motorway to the Channel Tunnel leading to the UK.
Q: How is your promotion going here and are you satisfied with the exhibition so far?
A: We have been to Shanghai three times before and once to Guangzhou. At first we were not interested in China because Rouen port is mainly a port for the west coast of Africa, northern parts of Europe, the West Indies and the Indian Ocean. But now people are becoming more interested in dealing with China and we now have a representative of Rouen port in Shanghai.
Q: Is the cargo volume contributed by Chinese businesses increasing?
A: The imports of general cargo to France are growing, as for exports from France to China; we are mainly dealing with agricultural products and also some oil products. |
