MAWANI to award 12 BOT contracts in 2021

Eng. Saad Alkhalb, president of the Saudi Ports Authority (MAWANI), said that MAWANI, in cooperation with the National Privatization Center and the Ministry of Transport, is exploring the prospect of awarding 12 contracts on build-operate and transfer (BOT) basis to the private sector.

He said that these proposed contracts are aimed at operating the remaining ports and services during the year 2021 with the involvement of the private sector.

Alkhalb said that the experiment of awarding the contracts on BOT basis was a successful one, as its productivity exceeded the expected rates by about 10 percent during the six-month period following its operation.

MAWANI had signed a 30-year-long BOT contract to improve and fully develop the northern part of Jeddah Islamic Port, making the new terminal the largest container terminal in the Kingdom, with investments amounting to SR6.6 billion.

Alkhalb said that the transcontinental shipping lines are direct services linking the Saudi ports in the Red Sea and the Arabian Gulf with the region’s ports, including those in East Africa, Egypt and Jordan, and their goal is direct linkage, activation of trade and increased coastal transport.

“During the past six months, these lines transported more than 250,000 containers, and MAWANI aspires to double them to 500,000 containers in 2021, as well as to launch other services,” he added.