The container terminal, which is part of the Rijeka Gateway Project, will be able to receive the biggest and most modern ships for container transport and make the Rijeka port one of the main ports for the transport of goods towards the European Union.
The construction of the terminal, to cost around 32 million euros, was agreed last year with the Japanese company Kajima Corporation from Tokyo, which also organised today's ceremony.
The ceremony was attended by Japanese Ambassador Kaname Ikeda, representatives of the World Bank, the city of Rijeka, the port authorities, and the supervisor company Hill International.
Kajima Corporation will build 300 metres of the new waterfront and some 54,000 square metres of the terminal over a period of three years. Its partner in the project is Pomgrad inzenjering d.o.o. from Croatia.
The Rijeka Gateway Project provides for the reconstruction and modernisation of the port and roads leading to it. Some of the funds needed for the project were secured in the form of a World Bank loan amounting to around 155 million US dollars.