(report)
RIYADH, May 12 (KUNA) -- Saudi Arabia is characterized by its strategic and important geographical location that overlooking the Arabian Gulf and Red Sea, connecting the three continents of Asia, Europe and Africa.
By adopted the Vision 2030, Saudi Arabia is working on being a global logistical hub, by investing in non-oil economy through pioneering programs and goals.
It has launched the National Transport and Logistics Strategy, which is one of the basic aspects for the 2030 Saudi Vision that contributes to enhancing the human and technical capabilities in the transport through establishing advanced industries of logistic services.
The strategy aims at making Saudi Arabia a global center for transport and logistics services by increasing the contribution of the sector to 10 percent of the GDP up from its current rate of six percent.
It would upgrade the Kingdom to become among the top 35 countries on the cross-border commerce index and among the top six countries in the quality of roads, shipping more than 4.5 million tons through air annually, as well as increasing destinations to over 250 international destinations.
The Kingdom has 13 ports on the Arabian Gulf and Red Sea, where 13 percent of the global trade pass through them, and these ports contribute to the access of 70 percent of Saudi Arabia's imports and 95 percent of its exports through 291 docks.
According to data released by the General Authority for Statistics, the total value of non-oil exports from Saudi Arabia in 2021 reached around SAR 188 billion, while imports in the same year mounted more than SAR 343 billion.
In this regard, CEO of the Saudi Ports Authority (Mawani) Omar Al-Hariri said that Mawani has endorsed new corporate strategy to supports commerce and economic development in Saudi Arabia.
The attractiveness and status of Saudi ports have made the Kingdom to be recognized as the fifth quickest country in the world in dealing with container ships, he noted.
As a result of the unlimited support of the wise leadership to the ports sector, the size of handling tons of goods during the first quarter of 2022 increased by 7.18 percent with a total of more than 74 million tons.
The number of shipped containers increased by 5.91 percent with around 1.5 million standard containers, when compared with the same period of 2021.
Saudi ports recorded hikes in several other operational indicators, such as the increase in the number of cars by 12.85 percent with a total of 219,488 cars, the increase of passengers by 61.7 percent to 258,076, and an increase in the number of ships by 0.28 percent to a total of 3,186 ships. (end) nhq