Representatives of the Port of Long Beach and the Busan Port
Authority have signed a “sister port” agreement to establish a mutually
beneficial exchange of technology, ideas and culture.
The pact was ratified this week in South Korea. Long Beach
Board of Harbor Commissioners President Thomas Fields and POLB Acting Executive
Director Al Moro signed the Busan agreement on behalf of the Port of Long
Beach.
“As we move ahead with our $4 billion modernization program,
and as you develop your extraordinary new Port of Busan facilities, we have
many beneficial opportunities to share ideas, information and expertise to meet
these mutual goals,” Fields said during the signing ceremony.
The Port of Long Beach has existing sister-port agreements
with the Port of Qingdao in China, and the ports of Hualien and Taichung in
Taiwan. Long Beach also has memoranda of understanding with the Port of
Rotterdam in the Netherlands, the Panama Canal Authority, Yantian International
Container Terminals in Shenzhen, China and China Merchants Holdings
International, the largest public seaport operator in China.
Like the other agreements, the Busan accord is not legally
binding, but is expected to create additional opportunities for cooperation
between the two ports.
