In parallel to the rapid expansion of its container operations in Singapore, PSA also embarked on a series of corporate developments which led to its current status as one of the world’s leading port operators.

In 1996, PSA ventured outside of Singapore with its first international port project in Dalian, China.

On 1 October 1997, PSA corporatised and was succeeded by PSA Corporation Ltd, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Temasek Holdings. PSA’s regulatory functions were taken over by a new statutory board, the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore.

In line with the trend of globalisation, PSA established a presence in Europe with the acquisition of terminals in Italy in1998. India was added to PSA’s portfolio of port projects in the same year; Portugal and Korea soon followed in 1999 and 2000 respectively.

2002 saw PSA take a giant step forward in its internationalisation drive when it bought majority stakes in the Belgium premier terminal operator Hesse-Noord Natie which operated terminals in Antwerp and Zeebrugge.

In order to ensure its long-term competitiveness, PSA started a series of key initiatives to transform itself into a global terminal operator. It divested non-core businesses, trimmed its workforce, adopted a leaner and more flexible cost structure, and re-organised its corporate structure.

In December 2003, PSA International Pte Ltd was incepted to become the main holding company for the PSA Group. As steward for all PSA subsidiaries around the world, PSA International would provide greater strategic, financial and management flexibility, as well as seamless Group synergy to create and enhance value.

Just as importantly, this organisational change was effected to grow the Group’s core business in port management and to enable the Group to respond more quickly to the rapidly changing business world. Continuing on its globalisation strategy, PSA added Thailand in 2003 and Japan in 2004 to its ports portfolio.

Marking the Group’s first foray into the Americas was PSA’s port investment in Panama in 2007. In the same year, Vietnam and Turkey were included in PSA’s expanded global footprint, followed by Argentina in 2008.

In 2011, PSA expanded its global portfolio into the Arabian Gulf with its first port project in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

PSA continued to expand its presence in Latin America with the addition of Colombia in 2013. Indonesia was added to its port portfolio in 2014.