Port of Antwerp, Maqta Gateway to trial blockchain in international trade

Maqta Gateway, a subsidiary of Abu Dhabi Ports, has announced that is trialing blockchain technology in partnership with Port of Antwerp.

Maqta Gateway has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Port of Antwerp to exchange experiences and promote collaborative innovation. As part of this agreement, they will collaborate to test “Silsal” – a blockchain solution, developed and launched by Maqta Gateway in June 2018, which provides a seamless and secure link between stakeholders across the trade community.

With this, Maqta Gateway has become the first Abu Dhabi entity to implement a blockchain pilot project internationally. It said that the partnership with Port of Antwerp will “help test Proof of Concept to scale up blockchain technology in Trade systems, helping secure transactions and reducing system integration costs.”

According to the press release, the proof of concept test will involve using Silsal for the management of international trade documentation. It will test the capabilities of the technology to exchange, identify and acknowledge cargo documents and certificates between Abu Dhabi Ports and the Port of Antwerp.

The Silsal project has been rolled out in several operational phases and will be offered first to freight forwarders and their customers, and subsequently to the rest of the trade community as a complementary tool to Maqta Port Community System, Maqta Gateway said.

“We realized early on that blockchain technology can provide the very things necessary for reliability and integrity in the increasingly complex global supply chain,” Dr Noura Al Dhaheri, CEO of Maqta Gateway. “Silsal’s first international step today, working with the Port of Antwerp, is a manifestation of Abu Dhabi Ports’ commitment to secure Abu Dhabi’s global standing as a premier logistics, transport and trade hub, and support the Abu Dhabi Economic Vision 2030.”

Maqta Gateway said that the test will play a vital role in supporting companies conducting trade transactions between the UAE and Belgium, providing full cargo visibility and streamlining trade flows and supply chains. The partners have already established and agreed on the technical specifications of the test, which will be achieved in the fourth quarter of 2018.