Following is the report of Saudi Press Agency (SPA) within the Economic File of the Federation of Arab News Agencies (FANA).
Riyadh, April 30 (QNA) - The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia's strategic location at the confluence of three continents, Asia, Africa, and Europe, confers great influence to it and makes it a global logistics hub. This strategic location contributed to the Kingdom's becoming a leading country in the transport and logistics sector.
The Kingdom has 73,000 km of roads, including 3,690 bridges and 76 tunnels, that fall under the responsibility of the Ministry of Transport and Logistic Services. Moreover, the total number of flights in 2022 exceeded 700,000.
Given the fact that the transport and logistics sector in the Kingdom is the main engine of development, many effective plans had to be adopted to support the sector, to shorten distances and connect regions, as well as to facilitate the procedures accompanying the arrival and movement of visitors, tourists and pilgrims to the Two Holy Mosques, and to enable several other vital sectors to carry out their businesses and achieve their goals and aspirations, by providing all means, and preparing and developing the infrastructure.
Towards achieving the goals of Vision 2030, the Cabinet has approved the establishment of the Transport General Authority (TGA), and of the Center for Transportation Safety. It also approved the transfer of the task of supervising, regulating and controlling the postal services from the communications and information technology sector to the transportation and logistics services sector, in order to restructure and develop these services, in line with the comprehensive cultural renaissance that the Kingdom is witnessing in various fields.
The transport sector offers land, sea, air, rail, roads, and logistics services. These services are integrated and interrelated in order to help this and various other sectors in the country, leading to a renaissance in all fields and achieving the objectives of the national strategy for transport and logistics.
In 2022, 56 roads totaling 1,610 km were built, the terms of contracts pertaining to the field have been clearly spelled out, and 608 bridges and 37 tunnels were inspected and evaluated, in order to ensure that roads are in very good working conditions. During a campaign launched to check the situation of the road network, more than 14,000 issues were found and dealt with. At the same time, an initiative was also launched to improve the durability and quality of roads, as well as the maintenance operations.
In the land transport sector, in 2022, the regulatory framework for regulations and policies governing electric vehicles and self-driving vehicles was set, and the "Tajeer" portal was launched to automate car rental operations in the Kingdom. At the same time, five projects concerning public transportation by buses, within cities, were launched, in addition to a project to develop passenger transportation services by buses that connect more than 200 cities and governorates.
The compliance of licensed facilities dealing with all transport activities increased to 91% and shuttle buses to transport fans wishing to attend the 2022 World Cup matches in the State of Qatar were provided, which transported 400,000 individuals. Domestic trips exceeded 131,000.
In the maritime transport sector, the Kingdom owns 13 ports on the Red Sea and the Arabian Gulf, and as a result of the leaderships support, the Kingdom obtained the Maritime Quality Certificate for the twenty-first century from the US Coast Guard. Also, six agreements were signed with marine classification agencies, and exceptional agreements with local, regional and global companies were signed to establish six integrated logistical areas, and 17 new navigation services linking the Kingdoms ports with ports to the east and to the west, and enhancing commercial traffic were added. At the same time, Gate 9 of the Jeddah Islamic Port was expanded after the rehabilitation of the western road, and the foundation stone of the largest integrated logistics area in the Middle East was laid in the Jeddah Islamic Port. Investments in this project amount to SR1.3 billion; it will be situated on a 225,000 square metre area, and will offer investment opportunities in logistical areas to the private sector, increasing the number of logistical areas that include re-exports to 30 by 2030, in line with the objectives of the National Strategy for Transport and Logistics Services, which seek to consolidate the Kingdom's position as a global logistics hub. (MORE)
Source: Qatar News Agency