Business Bureau, Gulf Today

Saudi Ports Authority (Mawani) and Saudi Global Ports (SGP) signed a new Build, Operate and Transfer (BOT) agreement for the Container Terminals in the King Abdulaziz Port in Dammam over a virtual signing ceremony on Tuesday.

Under the patronage of Prince Saud Bin Nayef Bin Abdulaziz, Governor of the Eastern Region, (Mawani) has signed remotely the largest 30-year BOT Agreement in the Kingdom with (SGP) with investments exceeding SR 7 billion (Dhs6.84 billion) to develop and operate container terminals at King Abdulaziz Port in Dammam.

The remote agreement signing with the participation of Eng. Saleh Al-Jasser, Minister of Transport and Chairman of the Saudi Ports Authority; Khaw Boon Wan, Coordinating Minister for Infrastructure and Minister for Transport of Singapore; Eng. Saad Bin Alkhalb, President of Saudi Ports Authority; and Eng. Abdullah Al-Zamil, Chairman of Saudi Global Ports.

The BOT Agreement represents a major step toward achieving the strategic objectives and development plan of the Saudi Ports Authority by conceding some of its services in partnership with the Ministry of Transport and with the support of the National Center for Privatization.

The Agreement activates the MoUs signed in the presence of Prince Mohammed Bin Salman Bin Abdul Aziz, Crown Prince, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defense, during the inauguration of the National Industrial Development and Logistics Program (NIDLP). Upon assuming the responsibility of managing both Container Terminals, SGP will embark on a development and modernisation programme to transform King Abdulaziz Port into a mega container hub and increase the Port’s capacity to an estimated annual handling capacity of 7.5 million Twenty-foot Equivalent Units when the planned expansion works are fully completed. The total estimated investment of more than 7 billion Saudi Riyals, It will provide more than 4,000 job opportunities in the port and logistics sector.  It is a part of the continuous developments carried out by Mawani in the Saudi ports.

Under this agreement with SGP, is to invest and develop key infrastructure such as berths and container handling equipment, and will more than double the existing container handling capacity of King Abdulaziz Port in Dammam.The investments will focus on environmentally friendly and technologically sophisticated systems, including the adoption of automation to develop a modern Saudi workforce.

Eng. Saleh Al-Jasser said, “The continuous developments in Saudi ports come in line with the national efforts to achieve goals and pillars of our country’s ambitious vision to promote sustainable economic development and raise competitiveness”

He also indicated the importance of this Agreement to raise the operational and logistical performance level and develop the infrastructure of Saudi ports, contributing to reaching regional leadership and international competition.

Al-Jasser explained the expected economic feasibility and impact of this new Agreement as it enhances logistics, raises the reliability of supply chains, supports local and international trade and contributes in raising the rank of the Kingdom at the logistics performance index to become among the 25 best countries around the world.