HRH Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz, Crown Prince, Prime Minister and Chairman of the Supreme Committee for Transport and Logistics, on Sunday (August 27) launched the kingdom's Master Plan for Logistics Centres. It is is mainly aimed at developing the infrastructure of the kingdom’s logistical sector as well as greatly enhancing the status of KSA as a leading investment and a global logistical hub.

 

Unveiling the strategy, Prince Mohammed said it was part of a package of ongoing initiatives set as targets by the National Transport and Logistics Strategy (NTLS) with the aim of developing the logistical sector to support the economy, increase the local, regional and international connections of the international trade networks and global supply chains.

 

The Master Plan for Logistics Centers stipulates 59 centres with a total area of more than 100 million sq m, including 12 in Riyadh Region, 12 in Makkah Region, 17 in the Eastern Region, and 18 distributed across the kingdom, reported SPA. 

 

The centres will also enable local industries to export Saudi products with high efficiency, support e-commerce by facilitating a rapid link between logistics centres and distribution centres in the kingdom’s various regions, cities and governorates, provide high traceability and facilitate the issuance of licenses to practice logistic activity, especially after the launch of the unified logistics license and the licensing of more than 1,500 local, regional and international logistics companies, and the launch of the Fasah initiative (an E-system integrated in Saudi customs), in cooperation with the concerned government agencies.

 

Work is currently under way on 21 centres and all of them will be completed by 2030, it stated.

 

The new master plan is aimed at boosting the partnership with the private sector, and thus increasing the opportunity to generate jobs, and make Saudi Arabia a global logistical hub, given its geographical location among three important continents: Asia, Europe and Africa.

 

The logistics services sector represents one of the promising pillars of economic diversification and development in the kingdom, said the SPA report. 

 

It is currently witnessing many important initiatives and major developments aimed at developing the sector and expanding its economic and developmental contributions. 

 

The Ministry of Transport and Logistics seeks to develop the logistics industry, enhance the export strategy, expand investment opportunities, and strike partnerships with the private sector, it added.