Officials with the Port of Los Angeles and the Port of Gothenburg, Sweden, have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to further their relationship and cooperation on a number of key topics, including sustainability, digital and physical infrastructure, and potential trade opportunities.

 Source: Port of Los Angeles

"Because of the pivotal role that ports play in our global economy, it is imperative that we continue to work together to innovate, modernize and share best practices," said Gene Seroka, port executive director at Port of LA>

"This agreement between the Port of Los Angeles and Port of Gothenburg will build on an already strong relationship and like-minded pursuit of excellence in all aspects of port operations," he added.

Elvir Dzanic, for his part, welcomed the cooperative agreement as he noted that "digitalization and decarbonization are some of the areas where our two ports are frontrunners in Europe and the Americas."

"As we both have strong ambitions to keep pushing things forward, we will both benefit by developing and building off of each other’s innovations, ideas and best practices in these and other areas," Dzanic said.

The MoU between the two ports focuses on best practice sharing, consultation and exchanging of ideas on issues deemed critical to both ports. These include supply chain efficiency and digital technology and the sharing of lessons learned from the Port Optimizer™, the data portal developed by the Port of Los Angeles and in use since 2017.

Port of LA noted that this platform had enhanced the Port's supply chain performance through real-time, data-driven insights for cargo planning, forecasting and tracking.

Additionally, both ports will collaborate on ways to improve energy and alternative energy use, as well as strategies for incorporating new and emerging green technologies to minimize the impact of port operations on local communities and the overall environment.

The Port of Gothenburg is the largest port in Scandinavia.

The port is a full-service port and offers industry-guaranteed, climate-smart access to the world and is firmly focused on sustainability, innovation, and digitalization in a concerted effort to maintain the ongoing development of climate-efficient freight transport.

Meanwhile, the Port of LA is the busiest container port in North America.