Saudi’s Mawani, Jeddah Chamber to jointly build $267m integrated logistics park

The Saudi Ports Authority (Mawani) has signed an agreement with the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry to set up a $267m (SAR1bn) integrated logistics park in the south of Jeddah.

Mawani said the development of a logistics park is expected to further boost the ports operator’s role as a key player in the national transportation ecosystem. It will also enhance Mawani’s capabilities to position the kingdom as a global logistics and supply chain hub in line with Vision 2030.

#أخبار_موانئ | #موانئ و”غرفة جدة” توقعان اتفاقية لإنشاء منطقة لوجستية متكاملة.

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— مـوانـئ | MAWANI (@MawaniKSA) February 26, 2023

The logistics park comprises three zones that are spread across three square kilometres. It offers move-in-ready warehouses, storage yards and re-export zones as well as custom storage, logistics amenities, commercial units and residential units in addition to infrastructure such as roads and green spaces.

The facilities’ various zones fulfil importers’ and exporters’ requirements of stocking multipurpose cargo, chilled and frozen goods, food commodities and fragile goods.

The park is set to create more than 10,000 direct and indirect job opportunities in the logistics sector. However, no details were given on construction timelines.

Mawani FY2022 results

Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia’s maritime trade hubs registered a 13 per cent year-on-year increase in cargo throughput in 2022, driven by the initiatives that are being implemented by Mawani to transform the nation’s ports into an operationally-efficient and robustly-regulated industry.

Read: Saudi Arabia’s ports record 13% year-on-year rise in cargo handled in 2022

Saudi Arabia’s ports handled approximately 237 million tonnes compared to 210 million tonnes a year earlier. The year-end statistics for 2022 highlight a 3.2 per cent surge in container volumes at 10.355 billion TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent unit) in contrast to 10.035 billion TEUs a year earlier.

The sub-categories reflected a 5 per cent boom in imported and exported boxes to 4.839 billion TEUs from 4.628 billion TEUs in the previous period.

Mawani signed two contracts worth more than SAR640mn to deepen and establish new wharves at Jeddah Islamic port last year.

A global logistics hub

In other development, Saudi Arabia plans to invest more than SAR500bn in infrastructure, including airports and seaports, by the end of the decade in a bid to become a transport and logistics hub under an economic diversification plan.

Last October, the Gulf state earmarked SAR10bn to provide incentives for global supply firms to invest in the country as part of a broader strategy to develop the economy as a hub for industrial companies.

The strategy, which was unveiled by Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman as part of Saudi Arabia’s Global Supply Chain Resilience Initiative, aims to attract SAR40 bn of investments into the country.

The kingdom is also building one of the world’s largest airports in Riyadh. The King Salman International Airport, which will cover an area of about 57 square kilometres to accommodate six parallel runways, will accommodate up to 120 million travellers by 2030 and process 3.5 million tons of cargo by 2050.

The new airport is expected to contribute SAR27bn annually to Saudi Arabia’s non-oil GDP and to create 103,000 direct and indirect jobs.

Also read: Saudi Crown Prince announces masterplan for new airport in Riyadh