Belfast Harbour reveals ambitious growth plans
Belfast Harbour has announced its ambition to become the best regional port in the world and create an iconic waterfront for Belfast that will be an attractive place for people to live, work and visit as well as a hub for inward investment and tourism.
The 2019-2023 Strategic Plan together with an outlook through to 2035 were publicly launched at Belfast Harbour’s Annual Stakeholder Meeting today. The plan focuses on increased collaboration and partnerships with key city stakeholders to drive growth and regeneration in Belfast’s waterfront.
As part of the plan the Port has committed £254 million of investment to deliver new marine and estate infrastructure. Research from Ulster University’s Economic Policy Centre has concluded that these investments will generate 7,000 new jobs and support a further 3,500 construction jobs generating £500 million gross value added for the Northern Ireland economy and an additional £300 million per annum in wages and £4 million in rates to the city each year.
The projects planned over the next five years will lay the foundation for even more substantial “once-in-a-generation” investments. Detailed in Belfast Harbour’s ‘2035 Outlook’ these long-term proposals include schemes to deepen the Port’s shipping channel to accommodate larger vessels, to create new deep-water quays, the completion of the 2million sq ft City Quays development and the creation of a new globally.
