Saudi Arabia plans to invest more than 500 billion riyals ($133 billion) to boost its transport sector by 2030 as part of a strategy to make the kingdom an international logistics hub.
Saudi Arabia has fast-tracked efforts to surpass the United Arab Emirates and Qatar as the Gulf's commercial, cultural and geostrategic center, according to BESA Center Perspectives' Tuesday Paper No. 2089.
Around 35% of the kingdom's investment will be sourced from the government and the rest from the private sector as officials expand airports, seaports, railway networks and explore new technologies, Saudi Transport Minister Saleh Al Jasser said.
Saudi's international network is currently smaller compared to that of the UAE or Qatar, which are both large air transit hubs, Reuters said.
Saudi will increase airport capacity to 330 million passengers per year by 2030, up from 103 million in 2019, Abdulaziz Al Duailej, president of the Saudi Arabia General Authority of Civil Aviation, said.
Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman unveiled the new transport and logistics plan last week. The goal is to position Saudi Arabia as an international logistics center that will link three continents as part of the Saudi Vision 2030.
"Many of the targeted projects are bankable projects, attractive projects," Bloomberg quoted Transport Minister Saleh Al Jasser as saying.
Saudi officials want to turn the capital city of Riyadh into a premier business hub and attract 100 million tourists a year over the next nine years, the report said.
The move is part of Saudi's broader vision to develop its nonoil sector, provide more employment opportunities, draw in more foreign investors and high-skilled talent.
"The Saudi Vision 2030 will strengthen human and technical capabilities in the transport and logistics sector in the Kingdom," the crown prince said in quotes by Arab News.
