Authorities developing and modernizing Saudi Arabia’s logistics and transportation sector under a national strategy launched by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman will elevate the Kingdom’s position as an international logistics platform, experts told Asharq Al-Awsat.
On Tuesday, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman launched the “National Transport and Logistics Strategy” to enhance the Kingdom’s connection with the global economy and enable it to invest in its geographical position at the center of three continents.
According to specialists, the strategy will not only put Saudi Arabia on the map as one of the largest logistics platforms worldwide, but it will also build up the Kingdom’s capacities and facilitate meeting goals set out by the national transformation plan, “Vision 2030.”
Saudi Arabia’s idiosyncratic geographical location would enable it to achieve the strategy’s targets in the near future, they affirmed.
“The National Transport and Logistics Strategy is one of the most vital objectives of “Vision 2030,” and it contains a set of major projects that enhance Saudi Arabia’s position in global logistics services, develop infrastructure, and create logistics zones,” Shura Council member Fadel bin Saad Al-Buainain told Asharq Al-Awsat.
Al-Buainain indicated that one of the strategy’s objectives is to link the Arab Gulf states with a railway. This will strengthen interconnectivity by establishing a logistical network.
The network will link Gulf states economically, developmentally, and socially, and boost security as well, the Council member affirmed.
He stressed that the projects and objectives included in the strategy would improve the Kingdom’s logistic performance index, ranking it among the top ten countries globally.
As part of the strategy, the Ministry of Transport will be renamed the Ministry of Transport and Logistics Services.
Saleh Al-Jasser, the incoming minister of transport and logistics, said the strategy would help to enhance the Kingdom’s competitiveness on a regional and global level.
“The launch of the National Transport Strategy aims to develop infrastructure and operating systems to achieve the objectives of Vision 2030 and increase the sector’s contribution to the GDP to 10%,” affirmed Ajlan Al-Ajlan, who chairs both the Council of Saudi Chambers and the Board of Directors of the Riyadh Chamber.
