In an exceptional geographical location, and on a strategic corridor between the three continents, “Mawani” overlooks two vital seas and coastlines extending over a vast area, making it an essential center for the business of major maritime transport and logistics companies.
Due to the importance of this sector, the Kingdom took a historic decision to establish the General Ports Corporation in 1976 AD - 1397 AH as an independent entity that supervises the ports and develops them in accordance with the best international standards. Its role is to develop regional and international maritime trade and passenger transportation.
The Authority supervises the Saudi ports system, which is considered one of the most advanced ports not only in the region, but also at the international level, as it occupies a leading position in the list of ports in the region, especially since it is located on a strategic corridor linking Asia, Europe, and Africa, which has made Saudi ports a vital artery for international trade. A major influence on maritime navigation.
Over time, the ports witnessed successive developments that strengthened the Kingdom’s economic and logistical strength, the most important of which was the issuance of the noble Royal Decree in 1997 AD to privatize Saudi ports, which were among the first sectors to be privatized due to their vitality, by assigning all the work of operating, maintaining and managing the docks and equipment of the ports to the private sector. This pushed the ports force forward to invest huge sums of money to develop and modernize Saudi ports.
In continuation of this trend, handling work is carried out in Saudi ports by major international companies specialized in port operation work in accordance with the best international standards in this field.
In 2018, the Council of Ministers decided to transfer it to the General Ports Authority and approve its organization, making it a financially and administratively independent public authority responsible for organizing the management of all seaports in the Kingdom except military ports and economic city ports.
In June 2021, under the generous patronage of His Royal Highness Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the Crown Prince, the Ministry of Transport launched the National Strategy for Transport and Logistics Services (NTLS), which aims to transform the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia into a global center for transport and logistics services. Saudi ports were one of its pillars as the main developer of the system. Maritime transport, the General Ports Authority developed its strategy to comply with the objectives of the National Strategy for Transport and Logistics within the objectives of Saudi Vision 2030.
Through its updated strategy, the General Ports Authority aims to consolidate the Kingdom’s position as a global logistics center by raising the logistics services performance index and increasing the capacity of containers handled at the ports.
