DP World to invest ?1.5 bn in London

Dubai’s DP World, one of the world’s largest container port operators, said it will invest £1.5bn ($2.9bn) in developing a port and business park in Britain.The London Gateway project will include a “world-class port capable of handling the largest deep-sea container ships, as well as the UK’s largest business park,” a statement said.“We have realised the vital significance of this project for the British economy as well as for DP World. We are fully committed to this project,” Dubai World chairman Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayem said after visiting the project site.The 1,500-acre site is in Essex at the former Shell Haven oil refinery in Thurrock. Work there will be undertaken in collaboration with Shell.The project is expected to generate more than 14,000 jobs and contribute significantly to the British government’s wider Thames Gateway regeneration programme.DP World’s proposals include a 2,300-meter container quay with a fully developed capacity of 3.5m TEU (standard container units) a year.