Institutional Transformation Completed at East Saudi Arabia Airports

Matarat Holding announced the completion of the institutional transformation in airports in eastern Saudi Arabia. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Matarat Holding announced the completion of the institutional transformation in airports in eastern Saudi Arabia. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
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Institutional Transformation Completed at East Saudi Arabia Airports

Matarat Holding announced the completion of the institutional transformation in airports in eastern Saudi Arabia. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Matarat Holding announced the completion of the institutional transformation in airports in eastern Saudi Arabia. (Asharq Al-Awsat)

Matarat Holding announced the completion of the institutional transformation of Al-Ahsa Airport and Al Qaisumah/Hafr al Batin Airport, in eastern Saudi Arabia. They would operate along with King Fahd International Airport under the umbrella of Dammam Airports Company (DACO).

This step falls under a plan to develop airports in the Kingdom.

CEO of Matarat Holding, Engineer Moaid Al-Salloum and Chairman of DACO, Mohammad Abdullah Al Mansour signed an agreement on the occasion. It was signed under the patronage of Governor of the Eastern Province, Prince Saud bin Nayef bin Abdulaziz, during a ceremony in Dammam on Monday.

The ultimate goal is to support the future of the aviation industry in the Kingdom through the best international practices, said Prince Saud.

This leap would be made in developing airports, attracting international and local investments and enhancing the quality of services provided to customers and passengers.

President of the General Authority for Civil Aviation (GACA), Abdulaziz Al-Duailej noted that the aviation sector in Saudi Arabia has become among the top 15 in the world in terms of airports’ communication with the world, the increase of capacity to 330 million travelers, improvement of capabilities of the air freight sector, and doubling of air cargo capacity to more than 4.5 million tons.

Duailej further emphasized the importance of institutional transformation in order to achieve the goals of the National Transport and Logistics Strategy so that the Kingdom would become a global logistics hub connecting three continents.

Al-Salloum said institutional transformation took eight years of tireless work while maintaining the operating and administrative processes in each airport.

The National Transport and Logistics Strategy has four main goals: to transform Saudi Arabia into a logistics hub, boost the quality of life across the Kingdom, enhance fiscal sustainability and improve the performance of public facilities.



China's SAIC, Huawei to Partner in Developing New Smart EVs

FILE - Chinese men hand out national flags during national day holidays near a Huawei pop up store in Beijing, Oct. 2, 2024. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan, File)
FILE - Chinese men hand out national flags during national day holidays near a Huawei pop up store in Beijing, Oct. 2, 2024. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan, File)
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China's SAIC, Huawei to Partner in Developing New Smart EVs

FILE - Chinese men hand out national flags during national day holidays near a Huawei pop up store in Beijing, Oct. 2, 2024. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan, File)
FILE - Chinese men hand out national flags during national day holidays near a Huawei pop up store in Beijing, Oct. 2, 2024. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan, File)

Chinese automaker SAIC Motor said on Friday it would partner with tech company Huawei to develop new "globally competitive" smart electric vehicles.
The tie-up sees yet another state-owned automaker betting on partnerships with Huawei, which has risen to prominence as a supplier of smart driving technologies, to boost EV sales, Reuters reported.
"The strategic cooperation between SAIC and Huawei will further leverage their respective advantages and promote China's automotive industry to a new level in the intelligent era," SAIC said in the statement.
The deal signed on Friday provides for the two companies to cooperate strategically on manufacturing, supply chain management and sales services, SAIC said in a statement, without revealing the marquee of the co-developed lineup.
The state-owned automaker reported a decline of 20% last year in overall vehicle sales, amid a brutal price war and bruising competition in the world's largest auto market.
Its venture with Volkswagen saw sales down 5.5% while SAIC-GM's sales slumped 56.5%.
SAIC, hit with the EU's steepest extra tariffs of 35.3%, also suffered a slide of 14% in overseas shipments in 2024.
The deal adds to Huawei's expanding partnerships with state-owned automakers such as Changan, Dongfeng and BAIC Motor.
Changan set up a joint venture with Huawei and battery maker CATL in 2022 to make Avatr EVs, the sales of which more than doubled in 2024 on the year.
Dongfeng-backed Seres more than tripled its annual sales of Aito-branded cars in 2024, with the best-selling models equipped with Huawei's advanced driver assistance systems and sold in the tech firm's showrooms nationwide.
Huawei and BAIC launched their first EV under the joint brand Stelato in August.