Saudi Arabia Enters New Phase in Aviation Investment

Adopting a strategy to develop transportation and logistics services will enhance the position of the Saudi aviation sector internationally (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Adopting a strategy to develop transportation and logistics services will enhance the position of the Saudi aviation sector internationally (Asharq Al-Awsat)
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Saudi Arabia Enters New Phase in Aviation Investment

Adopting a strategy to develop transportation and logistics services will enhance the position of the Saudi aviation sector internationally (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Adopting a strategy to develop transportation and logistics services will enhance the position of the Saudi aviation sector internationally (Asharq Al-Awsat)

A host of game-changing projects encompassed by Saudi Arabia’s new “National Transport and Logistics Strategy” will launch a new phase for the Kingdom’s land, air, and sea transportation and shipping sectors.

On Tuesday, the Saudi Crown Prince announced the plan which places the Kingdom on track to boost its position as a global logistics hub connecting three continents.

According to the strategy, establishing a new national carrier is proposed as part of new transport and logistics schemes to increase the sector’s financial returns and boost the diversity of investment opportunities set to create hundreds of jobs.

The strategy also aims to move Saudi Arabia into fifth place globally in terms of the number of transit passengers, increase the number of international destinations served by the country to more than 250, and launch a new national air carrier.

Successful implementation of the strategy’s projects will help other sectors, such as Hajj, Umrah, and tourism, achieve their own goals for improvement and growth.

The projects rely on the unique characteristics of Saudi Arabia, such as its strategic geographic location, which links three continents, and its large influx of tourists traveling from different countries around the world.

As maintained by the goals of the Kingdom’s national transformation plan, dubbed “Vision 2030,” Saudi Arabia will see nearly 100 million visitors coming in annually.

The new logistics strategy also seeks to improve the capabilities of the air cargo sector by doubling its capacity to more than 4.5 million tons.

“Transportation is an integrated system linked to passenger and cargo operations, so development and modernization in this sector have positive effects on the main, support and logistical services in this sector,” Hussain Al-Zahrani, Chairman of the Aviation and Support Services Committee in the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce, told Asharq Al-Awsat.



Trump Tariffs Loom Large in South Korea’s ‘Steel City’

This picture taken on February 13, 2025 shows steelworks of South Korea's largest steelmaker POSCO in Pohang. (AFP)
This picture taken on February 13, 2025 shows steelworks of South Korea's largest steelmaker POSCO in Pohang. (AFP)
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Trump Tariffs Loom Large in South Korea’s ‘Steel City’

This picture taken on February 13, 2025 shows steelworks of South Korea's largest steelmaker POSCO in Pohang. (AFP)
This picture taken on February 13, 2025 shows steelworks of South Korea's largest steelmaker POSCO in Pohang. (AFP)

Smoke billows from chimneys as factories churn in South Korea's steelmaking heartland, now under threat from Washington's swingeing new tariffs on the port city's largest export.

The city of Pohang on South Korea's east coast for decades pumped out the steel that fueled the country's breakneck economic rise.

South Korea was the fourth largest exporter of the metal to the United States last year, accounting for 13 percent of its total steel imports.

But the industry has faced intense strain in recent years from foreign competition.

And businesses, officials and workers in the city now fear a planned 25 percent tariff on all steel imports to the United States beginning next month could have devastating impacts -- and major knock-on effects on South Korea's economy.

"The steel industry is a vital national industry that serves as a fundamental material for key sectors such as construction, automotive and shipbuilding," Pohang's mayor Lee Kang-deok told AFP.

"If the steel industry collapses, the entire South Korean economy will be destabilized," Lee warned.

"If we fail to respond effectively to President Trump's tariff measures, our country's economy could face an even greater shock, leading to an irreversible situation."

- 'Steel city' -

Lying around 270 kilometers (168 miles) southeast of Seoul, Pohang has carved out a rare place as a key industrial hub in a country beset by deepening regional inequality -- and where most resources are tightly concentrated in the capital.

It is home to the nation's top steelmaker, POSCO, a major force in South Korea's industrialization and development as an export powerhouse, alongside giants like Hyundai Steel and Dongkuk Steel.

"Pohang has long been a symbolic steel city that has supported South Korea for decades, serving as a backbone for the country's development," said Bang Sung-jun, a former Hyundai Steel worker and an official at the Korean Metal Workers' Union's Pohang branch.

"The steel industry has provided quality jobs and sustained the local economy," he told AFP, while acknowledging the pollution produced and the often dangerous conditions for workers in the industry.

How those workers respond to the current crisis, he added, "will determine whether the city of Pohang can sustain its steel industry, putting its very survival at stake".

- 'Significant' impact -

South Korea's steel industry has faced intense pressure in recent years as it grapples with oversupply -- particularly from China -- and a decrease in global demand.

The US tariffs are likely to intensify those challenges, and analysts warn that should cheap Chinese steel barred from the US market begin to flood regions like Southeast Asia and Europe, South Korean steel producers will face deepening price competition.

"Trump's protectionism certainly will affect South Korea's long-suffering steel industry, already squeezed by low-price exports from China and unfavorable Japanese yen exchange rate," Vladimir Tikhonov, professor of Korea studies at the University of Oslo, told AFP.

"The impact will be significant," he said.

Some suggest the tariffs could offer opportunities for South Korean firms to find new export markets.

But for workers in Pohang, where several mills have already shut down, job security and the threat of further layoffs overshadow any potential benefits.

AFP reporters visited a factory owned by Hyundai Steel which closed late last year. It did not appear to be operating and was guarded by a handful of staff at the time of the visit.

Journalists saw signs hung by unionized workers criticizing the management and demanding an apology, and through an open door, what looked like debris piled up inside.

"For us workers, it has always been a crisis without any opportunities," said Bang, the unionist.

Worker Lee Woo-man, who has worked as a subcontractor for POSCO for two decades, told AFP that 20 of his colleagues have lost their jobs in the past year.

He expected employment in the city to "decrease even more" over the next four years and believes Trump's tariffs will speed up the decline of the city, which he said has lost the vibrancy it had when he was young.

Lee said he grew up watching the smoke rise from the chimneys of massive mills, thinking to himself: "POSCO is feeding Pohang".

But now that view makes him worry.

"I don't know when this will all fall apart."