RIYADH — Underlining its support for the Kingdom’s national industries and homegrown products, the Saudi Ports Authority (MAWANI) participated in Made in Saudi Expo, a four-day exhibit of local brands held as part of Riyadh Season.

The Authority highlighted its pioneering achievements locally and globally in developing and enhancing the Kingdom's exports to international markets to drive economic and development growth, in line with the goals of Vision 2030.

Saudi Arabia’s seaports represent the main channel for supporting and enabling national exports, with around 95% of the Kingdom's exports passing through them each year. In 2021, the ports successfully exported 189 million tons of cargo and more than 2 million containers.

MAWANI, in cooperation with its partners, has played a key role in streamlining and re-engineering import procedures and processes to drive greater efficiency. The Authority seeks to save time and cost for exporters by providing empty containers, as well as increasing the ports’ share of containers issued to industrial companies in the Kingdom.

Other key initiatives undertaken include reducing the cost of importing empty containers by 50% for a year at both Jeddah Islamic Port and King Abdulaziz Port to support Saudi exports by increasing the availability of empty containers, as well as the launch of a new service for booking trucks for import and export that has contributed to reducing the turnover rate of trucks from 6 hours to just 25 minutes.

Dedicated logistic and re-export areas have been created at Saudi Arabia’s seaports to contribute to achieving the Vision 2030 target of increasing the share of non-oil exports from the Kingdom to 50% and raising its competitiveness in global markets.

The Authority also succeeded in adding four new shipping services to support exporters and enhance trade between the Kingdom and countries across the globe. These developments come as part of MAWANI’s plans to achieve a throughput of over 40 million TEUs by the end of the decade, together with a transshipment share of 50% and port utilization rate of 70%.

Hosted at the Exhibition and Conference Center in Riyadh Front under the patronage of the Minister of Industry and Mineral Resources, Bandar bin Ibrahim Al-Khorayef, the Made in Saudi Expo took place during February 13-16 and is the first of its kind to gather national brands under one roof. A diverse selection of Saudi companies operating across a wide range of industries has signed up for the exhibition, which encompasses an area of more than 27,000 m2.

The exhibition was accompanied by a conference and discussion sessions focusing on areas of importance to the industrial sector in the Kingdom, including export development and the Made in Saudi program.

The event also featured a series of workshops designed to help participants learn more about methods to improve administrative, operation, and production processes.

The Made in Saudi program is organized by the Ministry of Industry and Mineral Resources under the patronage of His Royal Highness Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, and aims to support national products and promote them locally and internationally. — SPA