The port of Toamasina is one of the first ports to be built in Madagascar around 1935. Since then, the port provides nearly 35% of direct jobs to the city, excluding the indirect jobs that are supported from the port activities . Since 2003, the port is managed by the Société du Port à Gestion Autonome de Toamasina (SPAT), following a government decision to disengage itself from industrial and commercial activities. The fast expansion of maritime traffic, as well as the exponential growth of this sector of activity in the Indian Ocean (+ 300% in 20 years), urged the port of Toamasina to implement large-scale projects in order to adapt to the changing environment. In this new context, the geographic location of Madagascar in the Indian Ocean, combined with that of the Port of Toamasina, represent valuable natural assets. Consequently, in 2009, the SPAT launched the Toamasina Port Expansion Project that includes, among others, the development of Portal No. 1 and the new control post, the upgrading of the scanner site, the construction of new access roads, the development of new storage areas, etc. At the beginning 2018, a bilateral agreement signed between Madagascar and Japan allowed the continuation of this urgent extension process with an investment by the Japan International Cooperation Agency to the amount of 45214 million Yen, equivalent to $ 411 million.