Transport and Transportation:
The Saudi Arabian government is going ahead with an astonishing development in the sector of transportations, as it was very difficult in the past to travel from the east of the Kingdom to the west, or from the Northern provinces to the southern ones or in the internal areas, a matter that may last for tens of days. And due to the expanded distances, urbanizations, topographic diversity paths difficulty as well the limited modern transportation. A high priority have already given to modernize the transportation: laying roads (highways) from the reign of the late king Abdul Aziz – may God's mercy be upon him -As this modernization has been growing gradually to reach many roads in the desert areas, roads of one path are expanded between the main cities.
In the 90s, the actual execution of the development plan took place as well the modernization of main roads' net, i.e. since the beginning of executing development plans then most of roads' utilities are completed till it reached its peak of expansion in the reign of the custodian of the two holy mosques, King Fahd - may Allah preserves him – moving from east of the Kingdom to the west or from north to south became an easy thing regarding the distinguished efforts of the country in this field, road's networks become joining eastern provinces on the Arabian Gulf with the western ones on the red sea, its north with its south besides the short inner-city roads networks which connect cities with each other and the inner areas of the Kingdom.
Supervision, execution & periodical repairs of the roads in the Kingdom are the responsibilities of the Ministry of Transportation & the Ministry of Municipality & Rural Affairs as the Ministry of Transportation is the one that has the main role in roads' establishment which connect the city parts and areas with each other whereas Ministry of Municipality & Rural Affairs is connecting the parts of the city with each other.
Visitor of the Kingdom of Saudi cities such as ArRiyadh, Jeddah holy Maccah Al Mukarramah, Madinah Al Munawwarah, Dammam and others feels this astonishing development, also will observe the creational engineering masterwork of roads and bridges in the Kingdom. The Roads in Saudi Arabia whether in the city or connecting it are characterized by their wideness and safety, most of the city inner roads are lighted and there are other main roads lighted as the highway which connects holy Maccah Al Mukarramah with Jeddah or the roads between the sacred ceremonies.
Roads are the main element in the transportation network in the Kingdom, as it participates with an effective role in facilitating the flow of passengers and goods. For more information, please visit the Ministry of Transportation website.
Airports & Airlines:
The Kingdom did establish up-to-date airports to connect the different parts of the Kingdom with each other and make the communication with different international regions easier, these airports are established with the best specifications and international standards as it became 27 airports, 3 international airports competing by their capacity, modern services, qualitative level the best airports all over the world.
International Airports are:
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King Abdul Aziz International airport at Jeddah: Its area is 105 km; this airport has an enormous importance mainly in serving the annual pilgrimage, inaugurated in 1401 H.
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King Khalid International Airport at Riyadh: its area is 225km, its operative capacity serves more than 10 millions annually travelers, inaugurated in 1404 H.
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King Fahd International Airport at Dammam: Its area is 776km, its operative capacity 9 millions annually travelers, inaugurated in 1420 H.
Saudi's national Airlines, is considered an excellent object of pride as it owns a huge new fleet composed of 125 airplanes, The pilots working there reached to more than 2000 pilots; from which 900 are Saudis.
For more information, please visit the Saudi Arabian Airlines website.
All the achievements by Saudi airlines had realized by using only one Airplane from the DC3/Dacotta style which was received by the late King Abdul Aziz – may God's mercy be upon him - as a present from the American president Roosevelt, achieved success by virtue of Allah: then by the generous supporting: subsidies from the Custodian of the two holy mosques and recently was the deal of the 61 new planes that he ordered to contract their purchasing from Boeing: Mc Donald Douglas companies for modernizing Saudi's airlines old fleet in order to be qualified to meet the challenge in the industry of air transport worldwide, as a result the Saudi Airlines Corporations shows its effectiveness, distinguished position among others by winning worldwide prizes which are achieved in the field of air services.
As a general overview on all transportation various sectors, all are referring to the massive efforts exerted from the custodian of the two holy mosques; King Fahd Ibn Abdul Aziz (may Allah preserves him) regarding their development and supporting in order to transfer easily millions of travelers inside the country and connect them with the outside world, a matter that leads to secure, improve both trade, economy flow in the Kingdom.
For more information, please visit the http://www.saudiairlines.com/Ministry of Transportation website.
Telecommunications:
Resource: http://www.mcit.gov.sa/english/Development/SectorIndices/
Here below, are the Indicators of Communications and Information Technology in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia as of 2009.
- Mobile Telecommunications Market:
Competition in the mobile telecommunications market, which started in 2005 with subscribers less than 20 millions has witnessed a very vigorous growth in the last 5 years, In 2007, the Saudi cellular market experienced the largest growth in its history. By the end of 2007, the mobile market had added 8.72 million subscriptions, translating to market growth of 44.3% and 116% penetration. In 2008, the Saudi market continued its growth, but at a slower pace than in 2007 when the operators added 7.6 million subscribers in 2008. By end of 2009, the total Saudi cellular subscriptions amounted to 44.80 million (175% penetration) which represents a 43% annual growth. The majority of these subscriptions are pre-paid (86%). Figure 1 depicts the mobile subscription evolution from 2001 to 2009.
- Fixed Telephony Market:
Figure 2 below shows the evolution of fixed telephone service in Saudi Arabia from 2001 to 2009. Fixed telephone lines reached 4.171 million at 2009, of which around 3 million or 72% were residential lines. This represents a household teledensity of around 67%. The population teledensity is around 16.3%.
Industrial Cities (Jubail & Yanbou):
Resource: http://www.rcjy.gov.sa/portal/default.asp?lang=eng&branch=1
Profile:
On 21 September 1975, the Royal Commission for Jubail and Yanbu (RCJY) was established as an autonomous organization of the Saudi Government. The Commission is governed by a Board of Directors and its Chairman reports to the Council of Ministers. The Chairman’s office in Riyadh formulates the policies and oversees them besides implementing the same through the two Directorate Generals, one each for the cities of Jubail and Yanbu.
Mission:
The mandate of the RCJY is to implement the physical and social infrastructure required for the development of Jubail and Yanbu areas as industrial cities. Specifically, the RCJY mission is the following:
To promote, assist, service and otherwise encourage the development of basic, downstream and light industries that would utilize the Kingdom’s natural resources to produce value added products for local use and export.
To plan, develop, construct, operate and maintain the various infrastructure and services needed for the above industries and for the people working in these industries.
To encourage the use and enhancement of the skills and talents of the Saudi citizens in the above activities.
To maintain a balance between industrial development and environmental safety that is compatible with sustainable development.
To encourage the participation of local and foreign private investment.
To work in liaison with other agencies such as Saudi Aramco, the Seaports Authority and others to facilitate the availability of feedstock and other services needed by the industries.
To function as a City Manager responsible for the safety and security of the entire industrial area under its jurisdiction.
Jubail Investment Opportunities:
Investment Opportunities are many and varied as follows:
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Developing large-scale primary petrochemical industrial complexes.
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Establishing down-stream secondary industry projects using feedstock produced by the primary industries.
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Establishing industrial, commercial and residential support operations designed to offer essential goods and services to other industries and the community at large.
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Creation of light manufacturing facilities to produce other products for export and/or local market use.
Advantages Provided to the Industries Located in Jubail Industrial City include:
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Location – Jubail is centrally located to access major world economies in the east and west.
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Port facilities.
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Feedstock supplies.
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Infrastructure.
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Service Industries.
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Tax Holidays.
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Customs Exemptions.
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Low Cost Loans.
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Favorable Land & Utility Rates.
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Freedom to Repatriate Funds.
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Favorable Investment Climate.
The Industry Categories Are Described Below:
Primary Industries: Refining, basic petrochemicals, fertilizers, and steel plants.
Secondary Industries: Mainly specialty petrochemicals and plastics. Feedstock is mainly from the primary industries.
Support & Light Industries: Fabrication and light manufacturing to support primary and secondary industries and the community.
Jubail 1:
The Royal Commission has successfully developed Jubail into a world class industrial city with an area of 1,016 sq km, of which 5,500 Hectares is in industrial use.
Jubail 2: Future Prospects
The success of Jubail 1 has led to the need for expansion in Jubail in order to satisfy the future investment demand. This new development is called Jubail 2 and will double the industrial area of Jubail Industrial City.
The Royal Commission has implemented this development to support the Kingdoms national development strategy. This will be accomplished through a phased development which will add an additional site area of 5,508 Hectares.
Saudi Ports Authority:
Resource: http://www.ports.gov.sa/default.cfm
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is the world’s main oil exporting country. It has the largest and most diversified economy in the Middle East with industrial exports that are internationally oriented. The Kingdom, therefore, has to have efficient, fully equipped ports that are capable of doing the job as it should be done.
The Saudi ports used to be managed by different bodies with different rules, regulations and tariffs, for each port. In 1976, the Saudi Government decided to create an independent Ports Authority, which was directly linked to the Prime Minister. The aim was to improve and develop all Saudi Ports and to run them in the most advanced and effective ways, in a unified manner. In it's first six months; The Ports Authority was able to eliminate the problem of congestion. Later the Ports Authority proceeded to achieve its goal: to re-organize ports and to enhance their efficiency. Now the Saudi Ports have become major contributors to Saudi economy and a link between the national and international economy.
The past years have witnessed great achievements:
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95% of Saudi imports and exports pass through the Kingdom’s sea ports.
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70% of the cargo handled are exports.
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The capacity of the Saudi ports has increased from 31 berths to 183 mechanized and organized berths.
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The productivity has increased three fold (489 tons/berth to 1550 tons/berth).
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Operating costs were reduced from U.S. $40/ton to less than U.S. $1.6/ton.
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2 million TEUs are handled annually.
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In the past two decades the Saudi ports succeeded in handling more than 1300 million tons of imports and exports.
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12,000 ships visit Saudi ports annually (one ship every 30 minutes).
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There are 633 Navigation Aids off the Kingdom's coasts, 72% of which are Solar Powered;
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97% of The Ports' staff are locals. In marine piloting they are all Saudi nationals.
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All the Saudi ports have unified rules and regulations.
In late 1997 the Ports Authority started passing the responsibilities of ports management, operation and maintenance to the private sector, in order to provide services capable of regional competition.
Today, the Saudi Ports are fully managed and operated by the private sector on a commercial basis. The Ports Authority still retains its supervisory role.
The Saudi ports provide excellent services:
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Handling of all types of cargo.
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Three major container terminals, Two on the Red Sea (Jeddah Port), the third in the Arabian Gulf (Dammam).
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Two ship repair yards (in Jeddah and Dammam) with 4 floating docks for each.
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Transshipment facilities.
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Re-export facilities.
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Passengers services
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Transit services.
