TRADE

Saudi Arabia has been recognised as one of the best places in the world to be in during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Government efforts to contain the pandemic, high inoculation rates, and a robust economic outlook saw Saudi Arabia rise 18 rungs to reach the second spot – next only to the UAE – in Bloomberg’s COVID Resilience Ranking.

The kingdom was lauded for its public management of the health crisis and the coronavirus’ latest variant, Omicron; as well as for keeping the corridors of trade and travel routes open, while also minimising the drop in flight capacity.

  

Saudi Arabia’s smart management of the pandemic has allowed trade flows to flourish.

Merchandise exports rose 82.5% in November 2021, valued at SAR 107.3 billion compared to SAR 58.8 billion in the same period in 2020, according to the General Authority for Statistics (GASTAT).

“This increase originated mainly from oil exports, which rose by SAR 43.1 billion or 112.8% in the same period. The share of oil exports in total exports increased from 65.0% in November 2020 to 75.8% in November 2021,” according to GASTAT.

Compared to October, total merchandise exports increased by 1% in November.

Non-oil exports expanded by 26.1% in November 2021, rising to SAR 26.0 billion versus SAR 20.6 billion in the same period the previous year. Non-oil exports increased by 9% or SAR 2.1 billion compared to October 2021.

 

CARGO EXPANSION

Meanwhile, the country’s airports also witnessed strong growth in cargo throughout, as part of the General Authority for Civil Aviation’s (GACA) efforts to expand air logistics network. Total cargo shipped via air surpassed 653,000 tonnes in 2021, according to the authority.

“This is evidenced by the Model Cargo Village at King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh, which is an advanced logistics platform, whose capacity is estimated at 500,000 tonnes,” GACA said. “The goal is to reach 1,600,000 tonnes annually at the time of full operation, on an area of 350,000 square metres [sqm], which contributes to strengthening the strategic location of the city of Riyadh as a leading provider of logistics services.”

The cargo hub provides an integrated area for the development of buildings for operators to process their express freight service, and keep pace with the volume of shipments flowing from and to the capital city.

The Model Cargo Village at King Fahd International Airport in Dammam also has plans to emerge as a shipping and logistics hub on the east coast. Featuring warehouses, logistics sites, a depot, and re-export area, the facility has the capacity to handle 650,000 tonnes of cargo per year, 500,000 sqm of warehouse space and 200,000 sqm assigned for services.

Saudi Arabian Logistics Co.’s new terminal at the King Abdulaziz International Airport in Jeddah, was also in the midst of an expansion, with the first phase of the terminal covering an area of 40,000 sqm. The terminal includes various shipping facilities equipped with new facilities that can handle medical and food refrigerated shipments, high-value shipments, hazardous shipments, and transit shipments.

The expansion project will eventually raise the facility’s capacity to 1.4 million tonnes annually.

AIRPORT UPGRADES

In January, Matarat Holding Co., a unit of GACA tasked with upgrading Saudi airports, completed the institutional transformation of 25 of the country’s airports, as well as launched the Jeddah Airports Company and Cluster 2 Company.

It is part of the kingdom’s plan to raise the domestic airports’ capacity to 330 million passengers per year, expand air cargo capacity to 4.5 million tonnes per annum, and set a goal to be ranked fifth globally in air connectivity for passengers across 250 global destinations.

 
“The launch of the two companies (Jeddah airports) and (Cluster 2 Company), comes within the framework of the authority’s outstanding efforts to improve airport services in the kingdom, through Matarat Holding and affiliated companies, to manage and operate Saudi airports in a modern and developed manner, as airports are a cornerstone of the air transport industry and play a vital role in the field of development,” said the president of GACA, Abdulaziz bin Abdullah Al-Duailej.

Jeddah Airports is created as part of the asset transfer and institutional transformation programme for domestic airports.

“Jeddah Airports will work on developing King Abdulaziz International Airport to become a diversified economic gateway, and operate it with the state-of-the-art equipment and advanced services,” said Eng. Mohammed Al-Mowkley, CEO of Matarat Holding.

Meanwhile, Airports Cluster 2 Company has the mandate to manage and operate 22 airports and adopt best international practices to boost their competitiveness.