Emaar and DP World sign deal to develop seaport

Jeddah: Emaar, The Economic City, the Tadawul-listed company developing King Abdullah Economic City (KAEC), and global marine terminal operator DP World signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to develop and operate the seaport of KAEC.

Under the patronage and presence of Dr Jubarah Al Suraisiri, Saudi Minister of Transport, Amr Al Dabbagh, Governor of the Saudi Arabian General Investment Authority (Sagia), hosted the signing event at King Abdullah Economic City, and in the presence of Mohammad Al Abbar, chairman of Emaar.E.C; Sultan Ahmad Bin Sulayem, chairman of Dubai World; Fahd Al Rasheed, chief executive officer of Emaar.E.C, and other Saudi government officials and entrepreneurs.

One of the six key components of the 168 million square metre KAEC, the seaport will be the largest in the Red Sea and one of the world's top 10 ports with a capacity to handle 20 million TEU (twenty foot equivalent containers).

A multipurpose cargo terminal is scheduled to be operational by late 2010 and a 1.6 million TEU container terminal by mid-2011 after which the capacity of the port will be increased in several phases.

In addition to creating 15,000 direct and indirect jobs, the port is expected to contribute an average 10 billion Saudi riyals to the kingdom's GDP annually.

Al Dabbagh said: "Sagia is committed to the kingdom's vision to make the Saudi economy one of the top 10 competitive econ-omies in the world by the turn of this decade.

"To achieve our goal, we encourage major local, regional and international companies to invest in the infrastructure to augment investment in high-growth strategic sectors, most importantly the transport sector, and thus enhance the competitiveness of these sectors."

"The KAEC Sea Port is the first port in the kingdom to be completely fin-anced by the private sector. The agreement is an important step in developing KAEC within the desired timeframe. We believe that the seaport at KAEC will catalyse regional and international investment in KAEC," Al Dabbagh added.

Al Abbar explained: "With its strategic location on the Red Sea, the KAEC Sea Port will create a regional logistics hub that will further stimulate the Saudi economy through new job and investment opportunities.

The seaport will offer an integrated transportation system to deliver cargo seamlessly to various destinations."