New details are emerging regarding Saudi Arabia’s new plans to turbocharge growth in the Kingdom’s transportation sector and place it in more direct competition with the UAE as a hub connecting east and west, according to comments from the Kingdom’s transportation minister this week.
Saudi Arabia will invest over 500 billion riyals ($133.34 billion) in airports, sea ports, rail and other infrastructure by the end of the decade in a bid to make the kingdom a global transportation and logistics hub, its transport minister said on Monday, according to Reuters.
Last week, Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman announced the new transportation and logistics push as part of its ongoing Vision 2030 economic and social reform plans, which were announced in 2015 with the long-term goal of boosting foreign investment into the Kingdom and powering diversification away from oil as the main driver of the economy.
The plan also focuses on maritime shipping. “We set a target to achieve an annual container capacity of over 40 million containers, including the associated value chain investments, in developing ports’ infrastructure, enhancing integration with logistics zones, expanding connectivity with international shipping routes and integrating this all with rail and road networks,” the Crown Prince said last week.
Minister of Transport and Logistic Services Saleh bin Nasser al-Jasser “said at an event in Saudi Arabia that the strategy included many mega projects, with over 500 billion riyals earmarked for investment,” Reuters reports. “The strategy is the latest economic policy to put Riyadh in competition with the United Arab Emirates, the region’s business, trade and tourism hub.”
More details were made available about the aviation sector element of the plan, according to Reuters, via comments from Abdulaziz Al-Duauilj, the head of the aviation authority in Saudi Arabia. Al-Duauilj at the same event that Saudi Arabia also plans to increase the number of international aviation routes from 99 to over 250 and more than triple total annual passenger traffic from 103 million in 2019 to 330 million by 2030.
Al-Duauilj also said said annual capacity at Riyadh’s King Khalid International Airport and Jeddah’s King Abdulaziz International Airport would each expand to 100 million passengers, without saying by when, according to Reuters. Al-Duauilj said the kingdom was aiming to become a global air freight logistics hub, handling 4.5 million tonnes of air cargo a year, up from 900,000 in 2019.
“This strategy will contribute to advancing technical capabilities and human capital in the Transport and Logistics Sector,” Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman was quoted as saying last in the SPA. “It will invest our country’s strategic position at the heart of three continents, further concreting our integral part of global economies; by creating advanced logistical industries, ensuring high quality services and applying competitive business models, we will strengthen productivity and sustainability in the logistics sector.”
