DUBAI, July 25 (Xinhua) -- United Arab Emirates' (UAE) Dubai Ports (DP) World has signed a 20-year concession with Mali to build and operate a modern logistics hub, the company said in a statement Wednesday.

The 10-square km logistics hub will be located outside the Malian capital Bamako, said the world's third largest container port operator DP World.

The "multimodal logistics platform" Mali Logistics Hub will have inland container depots and container freight stations that will facilitate the import and export of goods, the statement said.

The hub will be located on the main road corridor from Dakar of Senegal to Bamako and close to the Dakar-Bamako rail line, capable of handling 300,000 TEU (twenty-foot equivalent unit) of general cargo.

The first phase of the project, with an estimated initial investment of 50 million U.S. dollars, will include an inland container depot and a container freight station facility that will support the growth of the Malian economy by streamlining the import and export of goods.

Construction is expected to start in 2019 and will take approximately 18 months.

DP World will also provide Mali with three locomotive trains to boost cargo and passenger traffic along the Bamako-Dakar rail system.

DP World Chairman and CEO Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayem said the Malian market is expected to grow over the next two decades and is driven by a robust economic and population growth.

Mali's Minister of Equipment and Transport Moulaye Ahmed Boubacar said the hub will dramatically improve the cost and time of trade for Mali and will provide a first-class logistics facility of global standards.

The DP World now operates 77 ports across 40 countries globally.