Year in Review
DP World Annual Report & Accounts 2021
January
We started the new year by digitising customs with the launch of CARGOES Customs – a new digital streamlined, single-window interface that will replace the traditional customs system. This system will empower customs agencies and border authorities to facilitate trade, secure global supply chains and increase compliance.
We joined forces with Mærsk Mc-Kinney Møller Center for Zero Carbon Shipping to research and develop zero-carbon technologies and solutions.
The Maiden yacht and her all-new female crew set sail on their three-year world tour, as part of our partnership to raise funds for girls’ education.
February
We committed £1 million (£500k each) to scale two Earthshot Oceans Finalists’ solutions.
The solutions included a pilot land-based coral farm for reef restoration in the Middle East and a marine infrastructure enhancement initiative to benefit native sea life at Port Callao in Peru.
We completed the acquisition of Imperial Logistics (Imperial) by taking a 100% stake.
March
On International Women’s Day, our Chairman Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem became the first HeForShe Champion in the Middle East. HeForShe Champions are a group of ambitious leaders from across government, the corporate world, not-for-profit, and academia that are all set to develop large set of scalable solutions for gender equality.
We hosted the Africa Forum at our Flow Pavilion at Expo 2020 Dubai to discuss the role of trade in unlocking Africa’s potential.
We were recognised by Sustainalytics as a top ESG Risk performer out of 4,000+ companies. We were also awarded industry and region top-rated badges for our performance.
April
We launched the DP World Foundation to support causes associated with health, education, and food on local, regional, and international levels.
We won the prestigious “Best Logistics Technology & Cold Chain Delivery” award at this year’s Vaccine Industry Excellence Awards in Washington DC.
May
The first batch of female Solar Engineers from Senegal graduated after a six-month training course run by our partnership with Barefoot College International (BCI). Now fully qualified, these ten graduated women, lovingly known as “Solar Mamas” can install, maintain and repair solar-powered infrastructure in their local communities that suffer from electricity shortages.
We expressed our intention to explore the Metaverse to solve real-world supply chain challenges.
June
We announced a US$5 billion investment in three of our flagship UAE assets – Jebel Ali Port, Jebel Ali Free Zone, and National Industries Park. This announcement was made in conjunction with CDPQ.
Our Southampton Port became the first in Britain to replace diesel with hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO) in its operations and cutting net emissions by over 80%.
We announced the development of Jeddah Logistics Park – a 415,000 square metre port-centric Logistics Park at the Jeddah Islamic Port. This announcement was made in conjunction with Saudi Ports Authority (Mawani).
July
In July, Imperial (a DP World company) was in the news – it acquired controlling stakes in Africa FMCG Distribution Ltd and J&J Group and increased its stake in PST Sales & Distribution in Botswana from 38% to 72%.
Our e-commerce platform, DUBUY.com expanded its Africa footprint by launching in Ghana and Zambia.
August
Al Ain Farms, a leading dairy and poultry company in the UAE, joined DUBUY.com to enter new territories and serve new markets such as Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda, Ghana, and Zambia through our global logistics network.
We became the title sponsor of the Asia Cup T20 Cricket Tournament, making it the DP World Asia Cup 2022.
September
Construction began on a new 119,000 sq ft green warehouse at our logistics park in London that will connect the adjacent rail terminal and roads to the port.
We also celebrated moving the ten millionth container at London Gateway. The milestone represents an increase of almost 650% compared with its first full year of operation in 2014. A new £350 million fourth berth will increase capacity by a third when it opens in 2024.
October
In a strategic move to support large multinational companies to set up base in Dubai, we launched the Global Business Corporation (GBC).
We celebrated adding more than 23,000 nautical miles of new trade routes – connecting the Americas, Europe, Asia, and the Middle East through our global network of rail, roads, sea, and port services.
Our Marine Services division introduced a new coastal service for the UAE, expanding the connectivity of Jebel Ali to other ports around the country.
November
We partnered with Lin-Gang Special Area to expand our China operations and create an economic zone in Shanghai. Lin-Gang has also joined World Logistics Passport (WLP) – a points-based loyalty initiative designed to smooth the flow of global trade.
As part of our commitment to help golf grow and drive positive community impact, we launched an initiative to collect used golf balls across the DP World Tour, which resulted in over 130,000 used golf balls being donated to organisations for grassroots golf projects.
Leading students from top UAE and Indian universities competed at our inaugural Big Tech Project, tasked with solving trade challenges through the metaverse. Students from Mohamed Bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence – Team Digicortex won the competition. Their two winning solutions included a virtual training simulator and use of smart glasses to enhance efficiency and maintenance at ports and terminals.
December
We partnered with Americold in Atlanta, US – the global leader in temperature controlled warehousing and logistics-to support large food companies with a new standard in global distribution. The combination of Americold’s global infrastructure and strategic customer relationships and our global port infrastructure and end-to-end logistics solutions, we can achieve unprecedented optimization of global food flows.
We celebrated the milestone of our 100,000th employee globally – Fatima Alburaimi, a Technical Programme Engineer in Dubai.
