Hutchison Ports has signed a concession agreement to manage and operate King Salman Energy Park’s (SPARK) dry port and bonded logistics zone (“Dry Port”) in Saudi Arabia. The concession was awarded to a newly established joint venture, Energy City Logistics Company (“ECLC”), between SPARK and Colour Path Holdings Limited, a Hutchison Ports company.
SPARK is a 50 km2 global energy hub situated in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia, under the concession, ECLC will be an exclusive operator to the US$400 million state-of-the-art logistics facility in SPARK.
The new facility will provide services for handling containers, breakbulk and project cargo, storage yards, warehousing, customs clearance, bonded and non-bonded logistics solutions tailored to the needs of SPARK energy ecosystem.
The Dry Port will accelerate the Eastern Province’s development and transform into a regional logistics powerhouse with the integration of future *GCC rail link, highway and multiple expressways connected to SPARK site.
Speaking on the occasion, Eng. Saif Al Qahtani, President and Chief Executive Officer of SPARK said, “The Dry Port is one of the key enablers for SPARK’s ecosystem. The signing of the concession agreement marks an important milestone for the Dry Port moving to the operation readiness phase. ECLC will be ready for SPARK tenants from day one with integrated logistics solutions and efficient services, so they can focus on their productivity and value creation activities.”
Eric Ip, Group Managing Director of Hutchison Ports, said, “We are very pleased to participate in this mega project and contribute to the success of the Saudi Vision 2030 of developing the Kingdom into a global logistics hub. This partnership represents Hutchison Ports’ continued commitment to the Kingdom, and we look forward to a fruitful partnership with future business opportunities.”
(Left to right) Mr. Nabil Chaachou, VP Strategy & Business Development of SPARK; Mr. Saif Al Qahtani, President and CEO of SPARK; Eric Ip, Group Managing Director of Hutchison Ports and Andy Tsoi, Managing Director, Middle East and Africa of Hutchison Ports
(Front row seated from left to right) Mr. Nabil Chaachou, VP Strategy & Business Development of SPARK; Mr. Saif Al Qahtani, President and CEO of SPARK; Eric Ip, Group Managing Director of Hutchison Ports and Clemence Cheng, Managing Director, Europe of Hutchison Ports. (Back row standing from left to right) Andy Tsoi, Managing Director, Middle East and Africa of Hutchison Ports and Eric Ng, Business Director, Europe of Hutchison Ports