Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea Gateway, CMA CGM Sign SAR1.7 Billion Agreement
A view of the Jeddah Islamic Port. (SPA)
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Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea Gateway, CMA CGM Sign SAR1.7 Billion Agreement
A view of the Jeddah Islamic Port. (SPA)
The Saudi Ports Authority (Mawani) announced on Tuesday the signing of a joint agreement between Red Sea Gateway Terminal (RSGT), the Kingdom’s leading national container terminal operator, and the French CMA CGM Group, one of the world’s largest shipping companies, to develop and operate the fourth container terminal at Jeddah Islamic Port.
The SAR1.7 billion agreement was announced during the ninth annual Future Investment Initiative (FII9) in Riyadh. The new terminal will have a handling capacity of 2.6 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs), further strengthening Jeddah Islamic Port’s position as a major logistics and trade hub on the Red Sea.
The agreement was signed by Chairman and CEO of CMA CGM Rodolphe Saade and Chairman of the Board of Directors of RSGT Aamer Abdullah Alireza, in the presence of Minister of Transport and Logistic Services Saleh Al-Jasser and President of the Saudi Ports Authority (Mawani) Eng. Suliman bin Khalid Al-Mazroua.
Al-Mazroua highlighted that the strategic partnership reflects the Kingdom’s commitment to realizing the objectives of Saudi Vision 2030, particularly in transforming Saudi ports into world-class logistics hubs.
Mawani is proud to support initiatives that enhance capacity, connectivity, and innovation across its port network, reinforcing the Kingdom’s role as a global gateway for trade and a driver of sustainable economic growth, he added.
The new terminal forms part of RSGT’s broader expansion strategy at Jeddah Islamic Port under its existing long-term concession with Mawani, originally executed in 2020. The SAR1.7 billion investment will focus on building advanced infrastructure, deploying modern cargo-handling equipment, and integrating next-generation digital and sustainable technologies to boost operational efficiency and reliability.
Once completed, the project will increase RSGT’s total annual handling capacity to about 8.8 million TEUs. It will also strengthen Jeddah Islamic Port’s competitiveness by improving service quality and connectivity through CMA CGM’s global network and RSGT’s operational expertise thereby supporting national efforts to boost handling volumes, expand transshipment operations and reinforce the Red Sea’s role on the Europe-Asia-Africa maritime corridor.
Jeddah Islamic Port, the largest port on the Red Sea, plays a pivotal regional and international role due to its strategic location and 62 multipurpose berths, further cementing the Kingdom’s leadership in the global maritime and logistics sectors.
Shippers Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd to Resume Some Sailing Through Suez Canalhttps://english.aawsat.com/business/5293081-shippers-maersk-and-hapag-lloyd-resume-some-sailing-through-suez-canal
Shippers Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd to Resume Some Sailing Through Suez Canal
Shipping containers pass through the Suez Canal in Suez, Egypt (Reuters)
Shipping groups Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd will shift their AE15 Gemini service to the trans-Suez route instead of sailing around Africa's Cape of Good Hope, the Danish shipping giant Maersk said on Monday.
The Asia-Europe trade corridor through the Suez Canal was abandoned by most shippers after attacks in the Red Sea by Yemen's Houthis. That forced them to take the much longer trip around Africa's Cape of Good Hope, but shipping companies are now considering a return to the Red Sea route.
“This joint decision with Hapag-Lloyd comes after thorough assessments of the security situation in the Red Sea area and marks a step towards a gradual return to the trans-Suez corridor,” Maersk's statement said.
Changes to the AE15 service, which connects Asia, the Mediterranean and Europe, will reduce the duration of the passage by four weeks, a Hapag-Lloyd spokesperson said.
Last month, the United States and Iran have signed a 14-point agreement aimed at ending the war. The agreement paved the way for calm in the region and the Red Sea.
The route through the Suez Canal and the Red Sea is the fastest linking Europe and Asia and accounted for 10% of global seaborne trade until the attacks began, data from Clarksons Research show.
The longer journeys around Africa drove up shipping rates, making freight more expensive.
Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd do not have plans to change any other Gemini services, Maersk said, adding that they would continue to monitor the situation in the Middle East.
“Any alteration to services within the Gemini Cooperation will remain dependent on the ongoing stability in the Red Sea area and absence of any escalation in conflicts in the region,” the company added.
Shares in Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd were down 5.8% and 2.7% respectively at 12:51 GMT.
“We view this as the first step that will pave the way for a full return to the Red Sea by the end of this year,” Jyske Bank analyst Haider Anjum said in a note to clients.
“A full return, and thus more efficient capacity management, combined with the prospect of new ships being delivered in 2027 and 2028, should put pressure on freight rates and, consequently, on shipping companies' earnings.”
AI Is Reshaping Saudi Arabia's Venture Capital Landscapehttps://english.aawsat.com/business/5292798-ai-reshaping-saudi-arabias-venture-capital-landscape
AI Is Reshaping Saudi Arabia's Venture Capital Landscape
The words "Artificial Intelligence" are seen alongside a keyboard and robotic hands in this illustration. (Reuters)
Saudi Arabia is moving rapidly to cement its position as the region's leading hub for venture capital. That ambition was reflected in a record 38 percent increase in the number of investors backing Saudi startups, bringing the total to 194, driven by a 65 percent rise in international investor participation.
Reflecting this momentum, Amal Dokhan, Managing Partner at global investment firm 500 Global, which manages $2.3 billion in assets, outlined the contours of the Kingdom's evolving investment landscape in an exclusive interview with Asharq Al-Awsat. She said artificial intelligence is no longer simply an added feature but has become the primary tool for reshaping business models and building sustainable competitive advantages that will pave the way for the region's next generation of billion-dollar companies.
Speaking on the sidelines of the Global AI Show, held in Riyadh on June 29 and 30, Dokhan said Saudi Arabia offers a rare combination of qualities that investors seek. These include strong government support for innovation, a digitally savvy population, abundant capital, and ambitious goals to diversify the economy.
She added that what makes the Saudi market particularly attractive is that it is not only witnessing broader adoption of emerging technologies but also a simultaneous transformation of business models across multiple sectors. This creates opportunities for founders to build companies capable of redefining their markets rather than merely offering incremental improvements.
Betting on Artificial Intelligence
Dokhan expects the region's next wave of billion-dollar technology companies to emerge in sectors that align with Saudi Arabia's strategic priorities. These include AI-powered enterprise software, fintech infrastructure, health technology, logistics and supply chain technologies, climate and energy technologies, industrial technologies, and platforms that support the digital transformation of government entities and large enterprises.
She noted that 500 Global is placing increasing emphasis on startups developing the infrastructure needed to enable AI adoption, rather than companies that simply add AI as another feature within existing products. She added that the most valuable companies will be those with proprietary data, control over core business workflows, or distribution channels whose value increases as AI adoption expands.
Building a Sustainable Competitive Advantage
On improving startup economics, Dokhan explained that lowering customer acquisition costs is not simply a matter of reducing marketing spending. Instead, it requires building systems that make customer acquisition more efficient as a company grows.
She said AI and automation help improve customer targeting and qualification, streamline onboarding, and strengthen customer retention, increasing conversion rates instead of relying on higher marketing expenditures.
Dokhan stressed that technology alone no longer provides a sustainable competitive advantage as AI tools become more widely available. Instead, differentiation increasingly depends on proprietary customer data and insights, strong brand trust, and robust distribution channels.
She added that the strongest companies are not those focused solely on reducing customer acquisition costs, but those that successfully balance customer lifetime value against acquisition costs. Every customer interaction should generate data that helps improve products, enhance the user experience, and reduce future acquisition costs, creating a competitive advantage that is difficult for rivals to replicate.
Scaling Efficiently
On scalability, Dokhan said venture capital investors are looking for companies that can expand their customer base and enter new markets while growing revenue faster than operating expenses. In other words, business expansion should not be matched by a proportional increase in costs.
She added that investors seek founders who build scalable operating systems rather than businesses whose growth depends primarily on hiring more employees. She also stressed the importance of reviewing repetitive functions in customer service, compliance, and reporting with the goal of automating them from the earliest stages.
Achieving this, she said, requires early investment in scalable technology infrastructure, including robust data architecture, API-driven design, and modern cloud-based systems. This enables companies to serve thousands of additional customers without a corresponding increase in staffing or operational infrastructure, ultimately improving profit margins as the business grows.
Operational Resilience and Risk Management
On cybersecurity, Dokhan said cyber risks are no longer merely an issue for IT departments but have become a key factor in company valuations and their ability to attract investment. A security breach or prolonged system outage can affect revenue, customer confidence, regulatory compliance, and access to future funding.
She added that growing reliance on data and artificial intelligence is also increasing the economic cost of security vulnerabilities, making cybersecurity an integral part of business strategy rather than simply a technical requirement.
Dokhan said investors expect founders to approach cybersecurity with the same discipline they apply to financial controls. This includes establishing clear governance frameworks, conducting regular security reviews, developing disaster recovery plans, implementing access controls and data protection measures, providing ongoing employee training, and continuously monitoring systems.
She concluded that operational resilience has become a competitive advantage in its own right. Customers, large enterprises, and investors are placing greater importance on a company's ability to detect, contain, and recover quickly from security incidents, strengthening trust and reinforcing long-term enterprise value.
Saudi Real Estate Market Continues to Rebalance, Selective Recovery Expected in 2nd Halfhttps://english.aawsat.com/business/5292674-saudi-real-estate-market-continues-rebalance-selective-recovery-expected-2nd-half
Saudi Real Estate Market Continues to Rebalance, Selective Recovery Expected in 2nd Half
A view of the Saudi capital, Riyadh. (Reuters)
The slowdown recorded by official indicators in Saudi Arabia’s real estate market during the first half of this year did not surprise observers. Rather, it reflected the practical unfolding of a “rebalancing” phase whose signs began to emerge in 2025.
With major regulatory changes, such as parcel-based real estate registration coming into effect, investors and developers are now recalculating and watching the market carefully, ahead of a second half that experts expect to be led by real demand in residential projects and integrated logistics sectors.
Data from the Saudi Ministry of Justice’s Real Estate Market, covering property transfers, showed that the total value of real estate transactions fell in the first half of 2026 to $21.9 billion, or 82.2 billion riyals, compared with $45.1 billion, or 169.4 billion riyals, in the same period of 2025 — a 51.5 percent decline, the steepest among the indicators.
Transaction activity also slowed, with the number of deals falling to 161,900 from 220,000 a year earlier, a decline of 26.4 percent. The drop extended to the number of traded properties, which fell from 204,900 to 138,600, down 32.4 percent.
The total traded area also declined to 1.625 billion square meters from 2.088 billion square meters in the first half of 2025, a fall of 22.2 percent.
Prices, however, showed relative resilience compared with transaction volumes. Official data showed the average price per square meter fell to 1,965 riyals from 2,217 riyals a year earlier, down 11.4 percent. The highest recorded price per square meter also dropped to 330,578 riyals from 453,124 riyals, a decline of about 27 percent.
Reassessment phase
Real estate expert and appraiser Ahmad Al-Faqih told Asharq Al-Awsat that the decline in transaction value and volume was “very logical” given two decisive developments in recent months: regional geopolitical events represented by the US-Iran war, and the actual impact of government decisions aimed at rebalancing the market.
Both were reflected quantitatively and qualitatively in trading activity, he said.
Al-Faqih added that it was important to distinguish between traded and non-traded assets, noting that the exchange’s indicators show many investors have moved their assets into the “non-traded” category as they choose to wait and reposition themselves in light of market developments.
A general view of Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. (SPA)
He described other economic variables, such as interest rates and financing costs, as “secondary factors” compared with the geopolitical and regulatory files.
“The real estate investor, especially the speculator, is now going through a serious reassessment phase, particularly with the government’s clear direction toward developing the sector and correcting its practices,” he explained. “This approach will help redirect large liquidity flows into genuine development projects and increase housing supply.”
Market resilience
Real estate expert Abdullah Al-Mousa agreed that the more than 51 percent fall in transaction values cannot be read as “a direct reflection of an equivalent decline in prices.” A deeper reading of the indicators is needed, he told Asharq Al-Awsat.
Al-Mousa said the market underwent a pivotal institutional shift in the first half of 2026, with the expanded application of parcel-based registration and the transfer of real estate transactions in key areas — foremost among them Riyadh — to the Real Estate Registry system.
This is a major variable that must be considered in annual comparisons, he said.
He pointed to the market’s underlying resilience, saying the 11 percent decline in the average price per square meter, compared with a drop of more than half in transaction values, confirms that the sector has not seen a sharp price correction
Instead, the composition of deals has changed, with fewer billion-riyal transactions and high-value assets, while prices in locations with real demand have remained relatively stable, he remarked.
Al-Mousa said the market is undergoing a phase of “re-sorting,” rather than a broad price correction. Liquidity has become more selective, and investors are increasingly turning toward high-quality assets with stronger investment feasibility.
Looking ahead, he expects the second half of 2026 to bring gradual, qualitative improvement in real estate activity, while ruling out a quick return to the record transaction levels of previous years.
The sector is in a transitional phase driven by regulatory reforms, greater transparency and a more advanced legislative framework — factors that strengthen investor confidence over the medium term, even if their full impact takes time to appear, he went on to say.
Al-Mousa said integrated residential projects that meet actual demand, along with the logistics and industrial sectors supported by economic growth and major projects, are likely to lead growth in the coming period.
The market’s success in the next phase, “will not be measured only by transaction volume and quantity, but by its ability to attract quality investment, raise asset-use efficiency and achieve a sustainable balance between supply and demand,” he added.
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