The Autonomous Municipal Company ‘Ghent Port Company AMC' was founded by the Ghent City Council on June 29, 1999 in execution of the decree on the policy and management of the seaports of March 2, 1999 (‘port decree’ = decreet houdende het beleid en het beheer van de zeehavens van 2 maart 1999). The company became operational on January 1, 2000.
On March 27, 2008 the decree of February 1, 2008 for the modification of the port decree of March 2, 1999 with regard to the municipal decree was published. This decree modified the legal form of among others Ghent Port Company from an ‘autonomous municipal company' to an ‘autonomous municipal port company’ (ampc). The reason for this was that the rules concerning the usual autonomous municipal companies were no longer adapted to the specific situation of the port companies. After all, they have unique competences and obligations.
Consequently, a new legal form was created for the municipal port companies, being the ‘autonomous municipal port companies' (ampc). Because of this, also the articles of association of Ghent Port Company had to be adapted. The new articles of association were published in the annexes to the Belgian Law Gazette of November 10, 2008.