Located on the Horn of Africa, Djibouti controls the strategic location of the Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea. Developing Djibouti Port into a regional shipping and logistics center is a major goal of the Djibouti government. In the near future, this goal will be significantly advanced with the completion of a large multi-purpose terminal constructed by a Chinese company.

The Doraleh Multi-purpose Terminal project, with a total contract value of US\$420 million, is a key project for Djibouti's national economy and people's livelihood. An 11-kilometer port branch line will connect it to the Ethiopia-Djibouti railway main line constructed by China Communications Construction Company (CCCC), ultimately linking the Ethiopian railway network with the Djibouti port network. 39-year-old Djibouti white-collar worker Mohamed Goula believes this is very important for Djibouti's economic development. He said: \"This is extremely important, because the port and railway projects will further enhance Djibouti's geopolitical status, which is important for our country and other East African countries' economic development. We firmly believe that these two projects will certainly change Djibouti's economic situation.\"

Djibouti Port is not only an outlet to the sea used by inland countries in northeastern Africa, but also a transshipment point for container handling in the Red Sea region. Vessels sailing north through the Suez Canal to Europe or south from the Red Sea to the Indian Ocean via the Cape of Good Hope must replenish supplies at Djibouti Port, making its strategic position prominent, and it is known as the \"sentinel\" on the maritime oil route.

Djibouti Port is located on the southwest side of the Gulf of Aden, near the main international waterway. It is one of the important ports in East Africa and the only channel for Ethiopia's seaborne import and export. Because the existing multi-purpose terminal is old and its facilities are outdated, it is necessary to build a new modern multi-purpose terminal.

On August 17, 2014, the first phase of the Djibouti Port Doraleh Multi-purpose Terminal project, jointly bid by China Communications Construction Company Limited and China Construction Group, commenced construction. The construction period is 30 months, including a 1200-meter-long quay line that can accommodate 5 multi-purpose deep-water berths and a 175-meter-long service berth, as well as related supporting facilities. The project is implemented using a \"design-build general contracting\" model.

Today, on the construction site of the terminal facing the Gulf of Aden, engineering vehicles come and go, presenting a busy scene. Wu Di, chief engineer of the Doraleh Port Project Department of CCCC, introduced: \"After the blasting here, the stones are removed for land reclamation; over there, they are dredging with a dredger. We need to reclaim over 600 meters of land, with a width of 1200 meters, and the water depth will be about -15 meters after reclamation. Our main tasks are land reclamation, east and west revetments, including later site roads, stacking yards, and supporting facilities such as the customs building, import and export tax offices, inspection stations, and gas stations.\"

The construction of the Doraleh Multi-purpose Terminal is one of the important actions for upgrading the Djibouti Port infrastructure and building a regional shipping and logistics center. The first phase of the project will build 6 berths capable of accommodating 100,000-ton vessels. After completion, the throughput will be 7.08 million tons and 200,000 TEUs per year. Niu Zengxiang, manager of the CCCC Doraleh Multi-purpose Terminal project department, believes that this project is of great significance for boosting Djibouti's economy and promoting employment. He said: \"Because Djibouti's main national income comes from the port, and there is some income from foreign troops stationed there. If this port is built and the existing old port is moved here, its throughput capacity will be 1.5 to 2 times the current capacity, and its logistics capacity will be greatly enhanced. Not only will the input and output to Ethiopia be improved, but also the transshipment capacity to surrounding countries will be greatly enhanced, which will greatly boost the country's economy and employment. During the construction process, we also fully consider local operations, work closely with the government, and the local employment ratio is about 1:2 to 1:3.\"