In this way the Flemish Government simultaneously acknowledged the importance of the port of Antwerp as an important economic growth area for Flanders on a maritime, logistic and industrial level.

The port of Antwerp has a determining role in the realisation of Vision 2050 of the Flemish Government in which Flanders serves as logistic hub and gateway to Europe for international freight flows. The creation of extra container capacity in the port area of Antwerp will be beneficial for both prosperity and employment.

The global project aims at realising the expected increase in capacity until 2030. Different scenarios have been investigated and on May, 17. 2019 the Flemish Government has taken a principal decision on the preferential design scheme. This was affirmed on January, 31. 2020 which was the starting point for the development phase and the first steps of implementation.