迪拜世界港口擬與“一帶一路”接軌

When China held its One Belt, One Road summit in Beijing earlier this month it used the event as an opportunity not only to announce lavish new financing plans, but also to allay regional countries’ concerns that the global trade strategy would benefit China at their expense.

上月初，當中國在北京舉辦“一帶一路”倡議高峯論壇時，它不僅利用此次峯會宣佈大手筆的新融資計劃，還安撫了一些國家的擔憂，即認爲該全球貿易戰略將以犧牲他們爲代價使中國受益。

Those misgivings have not troubled Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem, chief executive of DP World. He sees China’s massive reimagining of ancient Silk Road trade routes as a business opportunity that could help ameliorate the effects of slowing global economic growth. “The Chinese horizon is changing,” says Mr bin Sulayem, one of Dubai’s most senior officials.

迪拜世界港口公司(DP World)的首席執行官蘇爾坦?艾哈邁德?本蘇拉耶姆(Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayem)沒有這種擔憂。他把中國大舉重塑古代絲綢之路貿易路線的舉動視爲一個商機，可能有助於緩解全球經濟增長放緩的影響。“中國的眼界正在改變，”本蘇拉耶姆表示。他是迪拜級別最高的官員之一。

DP World has, for example, just seen off the first direct freight train from the UK to China. The train left in April on its three-week journey from DP World’s London Gateway, at the mouth of the river Thames, to Yiwu in eastern China, laden with British products ranging from whisky to pharmaceuticals.

例如，迪拜世界港口公司剛剛發出了從英國到中國的首列直達貨運列車。今年4月，該列車從迪拜世界港口公司位於泰晤士河口的倫敦口岸(London Gateway)出發，滿載着從威士忌酒到藥品等英國產品，經過3周時間抵達中國東部城市義烏。

DP World aims to co-ordinate its global network with China’s projected $900bn investment for the One Belt, One Road project.

迪拜世界港口公司力求將其全球運輸網與中國預計投入“一帶一路”項目的9000億美元投資實現接軌。

“We will work with the Chinese to prepare our ports to be ready,” Mr bin Sulayem says. “They need to build thousands of kilometres of rail network to make it work.”

“我們將與中國人合作，讓我們的港口準備就緒，”本蘇拉耶姆表示，“他們需要建設數千公里的鐵路網才能使整個網絡運轉起來。”

Wage costs in China are spiralling by 20 per cent a year, says DP World, which has four joint ventures in the country. Such cost rises are pushing Beijing to locate export-oriented manufacturing in cheaper locations at home, such as Urumqi in north-west China, and further afield in Myanmar, Indonesia and Cambodia.

在中國擁有4家合資公司的迪拜世界港口公司表示，中國的工資成本每年上漲20%。這種成本上升致使北京方面把出口導向型製造業放在國內成本較低的城市（比如位於中國西北部的烏魯木齊），甚至境外的緬甸、印尼和柬埔寨。

“These areas are mushrooming and will produce for Europe and the west,” Mr bin Sulayem says.

“這些地區像雨後春筍一般迅速發展，將爲歐洲和西方生產商品，”本蘇拉耶姆表示。

One Belt, One Road’s maritime routes link China to Southeast Asia, India, and, via the Maldives, to Africa and on to Europe through the Red Sea.

“一帶一路”倡議的海上路線把中國和東南亞、印度連接在一起，並通過馬爾代夫連接到非洲，穿過紅海連接歐洲。

Land connections include the main trans-Eurasian route via Kazakhstan.

陸路連接包括通過哈薩克斯坦、橫跨整個亞歐大陸的主要路線。

Other rail networks link China to Iran and the Gulf, as well as to Pakistan by way of Afghanistan.

其他鐵路網把中國和伊朗、海灣地區、以及巴基斯坦和阿富汗連接在一起。

The rail routes are expected to compete with air cargo, with the sea routes used for lower-value bulk trade. “We are on all those routes,” Mr bin Sulayem says.

鐵路有望與航空運輸競爭，而海運路線用於價值較低的散貨貿易。“我們經營所有那些路線，”本蘇拉耶姆表示。

DP World has about 20 terminals poised to take advantage of One Belt, One Road. These include six in South Asia and four in China, as well as others operating in Thailand, Vietnam, South Korea and Indonesia.

迪拜世界港口公司約有20個碼頭可以受益於“一帶一路”倡議。其中包括位於南亞的5個港口和位於中國的4個港口，還有位於泰國、越南、韓國和印尼的其他港口。

DP World’s container terminals handled 64m twenty-foot equivalent units (TEU) last year, compared with capacity of 85m TEU. It hopes to expand capacity to 100m TEU by 2020, dependent on market demand.

去年，迪拜世界港口公司旗下集裝箱碼頭的吞吐量爲6400萬TEU（20英尺標準箱），而吞吐能力爲8500萬TEU。取決於市場需求，該公司希望到2020年把吞吐能力擴大至1億TEU。

With plans to expand in Latin America, Russia and Africa, DP World’s focus on international markets is helping to mitigate a slowdown in its domestic activity.

與此同時，迪拜世界港口公司計劃在拉美、俄羅斯和非洲擴張業務，這一着重國際市場的策略正在幫助緩解國內活動放緩的影響。

Currency fluctuations, weaker world economic growth and the fall in crude oil prices have combined to make business conditions more difficult.

匯率波動、全球經濟增長疲軟、以及原油價格下滑，這些因素相互結合，導致商業環境更加艱難。

Volumes at its Jebel Ali deep port, the largest marine terminal in the Middle East, fell by about 5 per cent in 2016, as Gulf governments’ spending cuts bit into regional trade. DP World says it expects this year’s volumes at the port to be stable.

隨着海灣地區各國政府的支出削減打擊區域貿易，迪拜世界港口公司旗下中東最大的港口——傑貝阿里(Jebel Ali)深水港2016年的吞吐量下滑約5%。該公司表示，預計今年該港口的吞吐量將保持穩定。

Among its overseas projects, DP World is advising on the Khorgos Eastern Gate terminal near the Chinese border with Kazakhstan, an important point on rail routes linking China to Europe. Trains have to stop there — where the former Soviet Union meets China — as the rail gauge changes.

在海外項目中，迪拜世界港口公司正在爲哈薩克斯坦靠近中國邊境的霍爾果斯東門(Khorgos Eastern Gate)無水港提供諮詢。這裏是連接中國與歐洲的鐵路上的重要節點。由於軌距變化，火車必須在這個前蘇聯與中國接壤的地方停下來。

In a similar way to how the Jebel Ali Free Zone trade area helped transform Dubai into an entrepot for global trade, DP World hopes that the Khorgos agreement will build a “new Dubai” at China’s border with Kazakhstan.

迪拜世界港口公司希望霍爾果斯協議將打造中哈邊境上的“新迪拜”，就像傑貝阿里自由區(Jebel Ali Free Zone)曾幫助迪拜成爲全球貿易的集散地一樣。

However, some observers think DP World could suffer if certain terminals on China’s new Silk Road become too successful.

然而，一些觀察人士認爲，如果中國新絲綢之路上的某些港口太過成功，迪拜世界港口公司可能遭受損失。

“There are risks to Jebel Ali’s growth should the developments at Gwadar in Pakistan lead to that port becoming a transshipment hub,” says Simon Kitchen, head of macro strategy research at Cairo-based investment bank EFG Hermes.

“如果巴基斯坦瓜達爾港(Gwadar)的開發項目使其成爲轉運中心，那麼傑貝阿里的增長會有一些風險，”總部位於開羅的埃及投資銀行EFG Hermes宏觀策略研究主管西蒙?基欽(Simon Kitchen)表示。

Jebel Ali port and Jebel Ali Free Zone, DP World’s prime assets, have systems and infrastructure that have made them a success, says Mr Kitchen.

基欽稱，迪拜世界港口公司的主要資產——傑貝阿里港和傑貝阿里自由區——擁有的系統和基礎設施使它們獲得了成功。

But Gwadar, being outside the Gulf, “is in a very good location, and if Pakistan can get the incentives right, it should thrive,” he adds.

但他補充稱，位於海灣地區之外的瓜達爾港口“地理位置非常好，如果巴基斯坦在激勵方面把握得當，該港口會興旺起來。”