JEDDAH: Saudi Ports Authority, also known as MAWANI, has signed a-SR500 million ($133 million) deal with DP World to create a new fully-integrated smart logistics park in Jeddah Islamic Port.
This is MAWANI’s fifth agreement as the authority plans to make Jeddah a global logistic hub in line with Saudi vision 2030 goals to make the country a center for global shipping.
MAWANI signed similar deals with a number of local and global companies including Maersk, CMA CGM, LogiPoint, and Bahri, as the Kingdom aims to become a global logistics hub by 2030.
Commenting on the deal, the Minister of Transportation and Logistics Saleh Al-Jasser told Arab News: “The kingdom is working very hard to implement its national transportation and logistics strategy which aspires to transform Saudi Arabia into a global logistics hub.”
He added, “We are working very hard to implement many initiatives that will take us to this aspiration.”
Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayem, group chairman and CEO of DP World told Arab News: “This will allow more opportunities for the Kingdom to be able to take advantage of many products that today might not be close to the port - it will be more effective, more efficient to have a distribution center closer to the port.”
In a separate statement Bin Sulayem said that the company is proud and honored to contribute effectively toward the achievement of Saudi Vision 2030, which includes an effective maritime transportation ecosystem that will affirm the status of Saudi Arabia as a global logistics hub.
DP World Park
Sulayem added, “Developing Jeddah’s Islamic Port is central to the Kingdom’s vision to transform into a global economic powerhouse by 2030. We are committed to enhancing the role and the status of Jeddah’s Islamic port, which is strategically located on the Red Sea and has historically played a pivotal role in facilitating the movement of trade between the East and the West.”
The new smart logistic park will cover an area of 415,000 square meters, and upon completion, it will handle 250,000 TEUs containers with a warehouse area of over 100,000 square meters.
“The park will provide advanced and eco-friendly e-services by integrating the operations of the south container terminal with the new logistics park, in a move from the authority to offer holistic logistics parks which will enhance the competitiveness of Jeddah Islamic Port,” said Omar Hariri, president of MAWANI.
This will allow more opportunities for the Kingdom to be able to take advantage of many products that today might not be close to the port - it will be more effective, more efficient to have a distribution center closer to the port.
Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayem, group chairman and CEO of DP World
Logistics sector needs private investments
A few days back, during an exclusive interview with Arab News, Sulaiman Al-Mazroua, CEO of the National Industrial Development and Logistics Program, revealed that Saudi Arabia’s logistics sector needs combined government-private investments to emerge as a leading global logistics hub.
The Kingdom still needs more upgrading to some of the facilities from airports to ports, Al-Mazroua told Arab News.
The investments needed for the Kingdom's logistics hub can be in excess of of SR500 billion, Arab News have learned from informed sources.
MAWANI-Maersk deal
It was in last year that Danish shipping giant Maersk signed an agreement with MAWANI to set up an Integrated Logistics Park at the Jeddah Islamic Port.
Under the agreement, Maersk will invest $136 million over a period of 25 years to provide infrastructure for warehousing and distribution, cold storage, and e-commerce.
The port will also serve as a hub for transhipments, petrochemical consolidation, and air freight.
To be spread over an area of 205,000 square meters, the greenfield project will be the first of its kind at the Jeddah Islamic Port, offering a range of solutions to connect and simplify importers' supply chains and exporters in Saudi Arabia.
Maersk will also invest heavily in renewable energy to power the facility and eventually achieve carbon-neutrality.
The project is expected to create more than 2,500 direct and indirect jobs in Saudi Arabia.
