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Global Logistics Forum in Riyadh Paves the Way for Strategic Partnerships

The Global Logistics Forum addressed key topics in the transport and logistics sector. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
The Global Logistics Forum addressed key topics in the transport and logistics sector. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
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Global Logistics Forum in Riyadh Paves the Way for Strategic Partnerships

The Global Logistics Forum addressed key topics in the transport and logistics sector. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
The Global Logistics Forum addressed key topics in the transport and logistics sector. (Asharq Al-Awsat)

The Global Logistics Forum, which concluded in Riyadh on Monday, saw the signing of over 60 strategic local and international partnerships and memorandums of understanding, with a total value exceeding SAR 16 billion ($4.3 billion).

In its 2024 edition, the forum aimed to boost international cooperation in the logistics sector, with the goal of reshaping the global logistics services map.

Saudi Deputy Minister of Transport and Logistics Services Dr. Rumaih Al-Rumaih stated that the forum “serves as a platform for collaboration” within the logistics system, with the goal of enhancing efficiency, resilience, sustainability, and profitability in today’s world.

According to Al-Rumaih, the agreements announced reflect the significance of the forum and its importance for the future of the sector, showcasing the transformative impact of cooperation and highlighting the Kingdom’s leadership role in the global logistics services sector.

“We aim to leverage our unique strategic position at the crossroads of three continents,” he added.

Medical supply agreements

The Ministry of Transport and Logistics Services, in collaboration with the Ministry of Investment, announced a series of significant agreements and memorandums of understanding.

Among the most prominent was a MoU with FedEx to explore investment opportunities in Saudi Arabia’s logistics and transport sector, agreements with Sadel Group to establish cold storage warehouses in Jeddah (western Saudi Arabia), and other agreements with Pacific International Lines and the Saudi Ports Authority (Mawani) to explore new opportunities in integrated logistics services and multimodal transport.

The Ministry of Transport and Logistics Services also announced the signing of memorandums of understanding with the National Unified Procurement Company for Medical Devices and Supplies (NUPCO) to establish new regional centers for supplying medical equipment and with the Saudi Industrial Development Fund to collaborate in developing transport and logistics services to support industrial transformation.

Key announcements and partnerships

The event witnessed major announcements from global sector leaders. Agility Logistics revealed the expansion of its warehouses in Saudi Arabia and signed an agreement with the Saudi Railways Company.

Additionally, Saudi Cargo signed a new partnership with the Second Airport Group to improve air cargo services.

New scholarship and training initiatives were launched during the event. The Ministry of Transport and Logistics Services announced agreements to send a group of national talents abroad for training and capacity-building to meet the needs of the sector in the Kingdom.

The agreements were made in collaboration with the Saudi Group, Airport Holding, The Helicopter Company, The Executive Company, and Saudi Railways Company.

The Saudi Logistics Academy also announced a series of training initiatives in cooperation with NEOM, Qassim University, and Al-Salihiya Logistics Agency.

Participants are seen at a panel discussion at the forum. (Asharq Al-Awsat)

Economic zones and hydrogen trains

The General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA) unveiled a series of agreements with companies such as Alat, Bahri, and Danfoss.

It also granted licenses for integrated logistics service zones to several entities. The Economic Cities and Special Zones Authority awarded certificates to Tharawat Group and Masarat Logistics Services for establishing new centers in King Abdullah Economic City.

It also signed a memorandum of understanding with Saudi Post to develop a new addressing system that will facilitate business operations in Saudi Arabia’s special economic zones.

In addition, CEO of the Saudi Railways Company Dr. Bashar Al-Malik revealed the success of Saudi Arabia’s experiments with the first hydrogen-powered train aimed at evaluating the suitability of this technology for the Kingdom’s environment.

This comes after Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman, the Saudi Minister of Energy, announced last year during his speech at the opening of Climate Week that Saudi Arabia would have the first hydrogen-powered train in the Middle East.

The inaugural edition of the Global Logistics Forum addressed key topics in the transport and logistics sector, such as enabling global markets, investing in logistics infrastructure, enhancing the resilience of logistics services in the face of disruptions in the Red Sea region, in addition to discussing the “New Era of Energy Ports” and empowering talents to develop the industries of the future.

The event was held in the presence of a large number of ministers, senior officials, leaders of international organizations, industry associations, experts, academics, and analysts, and featured 130 speakers and 80 exhibitors from 30 countries.

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Trump's Greenland Threat Puts Europe Inc back in Tariff Crosshairs

A worker adjusts European Union and US flags at the EU Commission headquarters in Brussels, November 11, 2013.
A worker adjusts European Union and US flags at the EU Commission headquarters in Brussels, November 11, 2013.
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Trump's Greenland Threat Puts Europe Inc back in Tariff Crosshairs

A worker adjusts European Union and US flags at the EU Commission headquarters in Brussels, November 11, 2013.
A worker adjusts European Union and US flags at the EU Commission headquarters in Brussels, November 11, 2013.

Just as European companies were getting used to last year's hard-won US trade tariff deals, President Donald Trump has put them back in his ​crosshairs with an explosive threat to place levies on nations that oppose his planned takeover of Greenland.

Trump on Saturday said he would put rising tariffs from February 1 on goods imported from EU members Denmark, Sweden, France, Germany, the Netherlands and Finland, along with Britain and Norway, until the US is allowed to buy Greenland, a step major EU states decried as blackmail.

On Sunday, European Union ambassadors reached broad agreement to intensify efforts to dissuade Trump from imposing those tariffs, while also readying a package of retaliatory measures should the duties go ahead, EU diplomats said.

The shock move has rattled through industry and sent shockwaves through markets amid fears of a return to the volatility of last year's trade war, which was only eased with tariff deals reached in the middle of the year.

"This is a very serious situation, the scale of which is unknown," Gabriel Picard, ‌chairman of the French ‌wine and spirits export lobby FEVS, told Reuters.

He said the industry had already seen a ‌20% ⁠to ​25% hit ‌to US activity in the second half of last year from previous trade measures, and new tariffs would bring a "material" impact.

But he said what was happening went far beyond sectoral issues. "It is more a matter of political contacts and political intent that must be taken to the highest level in Europe, so that Europe, once again, is united, coordinated, and if possible speaks with one voice."

STAND-OFF COULD BRING BACK LAST YEAR'S TRADE WAR

In a post on Truth Social, Trump said additional 10% import tariffs would take effect next month on goods from the listed European nations — all already subject to tariffs imposed by the US president last year of between 10% and 15%.

The bloc - which had an estimated $1.5 trillion in goods and services trade with the US in 2024 - looks set ⁠to fight back. Europe has major carmakers in Germany, drugmakers in Denmark and Ireland, and consumer and luxury goods firms from Italy to France.

EU leaders are set to discuss options at an emergency ‌summit in Brussels on Thursday, including a 93 billion euro ($107.7 billion) package of tariffs on ‍US imports that could automatically kick in on February 6 after a ‍six-month pause.

The other is the so far never used "Anti-Coercion Instrument" (ACI), which could limit access to public tenders, investments or banking activity or restrict ‍trade in services, in which the US has a surplus with the bloc.

Analysts said the key question was how Europe responded - with a more "classic" trade war tit-for-tat tariff retaliation, or an even tougher approach.

"The most likely way forward is a return to the trade war that was put on hold in high-level US agreements with the UK and the EU in summer," said Carsten Nickel, deputy director of research at Teneo in London.

COMPANIES WILL LOOK TO TRADE WITH 'LESS PROBLEMATIC NATIONS'

German submarine maker ​TKMS CEO Oliver Burkhard said the Greenland threat was perhaps the jolt that Europe needed to toughen its approach and focus on developing its own joint programmes to be more independent from the US.

"It is probably necessary... to get ⁠a kick in the shin to realise that we may have to suit up differently in the future," he told Reuters.

Susannah Streeter, chief investment strategist at Wealth Club, said the new threat created "another layer" of complexity for firms grappling with an already "chaotic" US market. Firms had little capacity to soak up new tariffs, she added.

"A trade war only creates losers," said Christophe Aufrere, director general of French autos association the PFA.

An official at a French industry association that represents the country's largest firms added the Greenland issue was turning tariffs into a "tool for political pressure", and called for the region to reduce its dependency on the US market.

Neil Shearing, group chief economist at Capital Economics, pointed out that some EU countries - Spain, Italy and others - were not on the tariff list, which would likely see "re-routing" of trade within the EU free trade bloc to avoid the taxes.

Analysts added the new tariffs - if imposed - would likely hurt Trump. They would push up US prices and lead to front-loading of exports before the tariffs kicked in, while encouraging companies to seek new markets.

"For Europe, this is a bad geopolitical headache and a moderately significant economic problem. But it could also backfire for Trump," said Holger Schmieding, London-based chief economist at Berenberg.

"Logic ‌still points to an outcome that respects Greenland's right to self-determination, strengthens security in the Arctic for NATO as a whole, and largely avoids economic damage for Europe and the US."

Business

IMF Upgrades Outlook for Surprisingly Resilient World Economy to 3.3% Growth this Year

FILE PHOTO: A view of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) logo at its headquarters in Washington, D.C., US, November 24, 2024. REUTERS/Benoit Tessier//File Photo/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: A view of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) logo at its headquarters in Washington, D.C., US, November 24, 2024. REUTERS/Benoit Tessier//File Photo/File Photo
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IMF Upgrades Outlook for Surprisingly Resilient World Economy to 3.3% Growth this Year

FILE PHOTO: A view of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) logo at its headquarters in Washington, D.C., US, November 24, 2024. REUTERS/Benoit Tessier//File Photo/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: A view of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) logo at its headquarters in Washington, D.C., US, November 24, 2024. REUTERS/Benoit Tessier//File Photo/File Photo

An unexpectedly sturdy world economy is likely to shrug off President Donald Trump's protectionist trade policies this year, thanks partly to a surge of investment in artificial intelligence in North America and Asia, the International Monetary Fund said in a report out Monday.

The 191-nation lending organization expects that global growth will come in at 3.3% this year, same as in 2025 but up from the 3.1% it had forecast for 2026 back in October, The Associated Press reported.

The world economy "continues to show notable resilience despite significant US-led trade disruptions and heightened uncertainty,'' IMF chief economist Pierre-Olivier Gourinchas and his colleague Tobias Adrian wrote in a blog post accompanying the latest update to the fund's World Economic Outlook.

The US economy, benefiting from the strongest pace of technology investment since 2001, is forecast to expand 2.4% this year, an upgrade on the fund's October forecast and on expected 2025 growth — both 2.1%.

China — the world's second-largest economy — is forecast to see 4.5% growth, an improvement on the 4.2% the IMF had predicted October, partly because a trade truce with the United States has reduced American tariffs on Chinese exports.

India, which has supplanted China as the world's fastest-growing major economy, is expected to see growth decelerate from 7.3% last year (when it was juiced by an unexpectedly strong second half) to a still-healthy 6.4% in 2026.

Business

France Says Still Loyal to Syria Kurds, Hails Ceasefire

Syrian army personnel celebrate as government forces enter Raqqa city following the withdrawal of Syrian Democratic Forces, in Raqqa, Syria, January 18, 2026. REUTERS/Karam al-Masri
Syrian army personnel celebrate as government forces enter Raqqa city following the withdrawal of Syrian Democratic Forces, in Raqqa, Syria, January 18, 2026. REUTERS/Karam al-Masri
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France Says Still Loyal to Syria Kurds, Hails Ceasefire

Syrian army personnel celebrate as government forces enter Raqqa city following the withdrawal of Syrian Democratic Forces, in Raqqa, Syria, January 18, 2026. REUTERS/Karam al-Masri
Syrian army personnel celebrate as government forces enter Raqqa city following the withdrawal of Syrian Democratic Forces, in Raqqa, Syria, January 18, 2026. REUTERS/Karam al-Masri

France on Monday welcomed a ceasefire between the Syrian government and Kurdish-led forces and stressed it remained loyal to the latter who spearheaded the battle against the ISIS group.

"France is faithful to its allies," the foreign ministry said, urging all sides to respect the ceasefire deal, which will also see the Kurdish administration and forces integrate into the state after months of stalled negotiations.