Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayem, Group Chairman and CEO of global trade enabler DP World revealed the plans for the development of Saudi Arabia’s Jeddah port in support of the project Saudi Vision 2030.
Mr. Bin Sulayem, speaking at the Future Investment Initiative (FII) in Riyadh, outlined the significance of Jeddah Port as a gateway port for the Saudi market and for the region, connecting to major markets in Africa and the Middle East.
DP World Group Chairman and CEO Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayem said: “As the first major investor in Jeddah port for almost 20 years now, we are committed to supporting the Kingdom’s effort to leverage its resources and investment capabilities through the development of Jeddah port. Our plans involve increasing efficiencies using innovative tech solutions and making it a semi-automated facility to create skilled jobs for Saudi nationals, transforming the port to an important gateway to markets serving 500 million people which will make the Kingdom’s ports and logistics services a necessity and not a choice for global trade markets, particularly the Red Sea, which is the blood line of global trade. Jeddah Port is pivotal in facilitating the movement of goods between east and west, and in boosting Saudi exports.
Saudi Crown Prince, Mohammed bin Salman also announced at the conference the construction of a new $500 billion mega project called NEOM that involves three countries: Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Egypt.
NEOM will be an independent economic zone and its aim is to enhance growth and wealth.
This ambitious project will be powered entirely by wind and solar energy and it aspires to innovate in a vary large scale of sectors. These sectors vary from energy and water, biotechnology, digital sciences to food, media entertainment.
Ultimately, NEOM aims to be a global hub for innovation, knowledge and trade. In a scale never seen before, it is set to be a new blueprint for sustainable life and inspire a new era for human civilization.
Mr. Bin Sulayem praised the ambitious project and highlighted the potential for economic growth that NEOM will offer.
It is expected that almost 10% of world trade will pass through NEOM.
