Emaar EC and DP World combine for Saudi seaport

Emaar Economic City has signed an agreement with the Dubai-based DP World Limited, a global marine terminal operator, to develop and operate the port at King Abdullah Economic City in Saudi Arabia that would be the largest on the Red Sea.

The port, which will be the first in the kingdom to be financed completely by the private sector, would become one of the world's ten largest ports with a capacity to handle 20 million 20-foot containers a year, said Emaar EC, the Saudi Arabia unit of Dubai's Emaar Properties, in a statement yesterday. "With its strategic location on the Red Sea, the KAEC Sea Port will create a regional logistics hub that will further stimulate the Saudi economy through new job and investment opportunities," said Mohamed Ali Alabbar, Chairman of Emaar EC. The statement said that a multi-purpose cargo terminal is set to be operational by the end of 2010 and a separate terminal capable of handling 1.6 million TEU, or 20-foot equivalent container units, will operate by mid-2011. Afterwards the port's capacity will be increased on several phases. It added that the port, set to extend over 14 square kilometres, would create 15,000 jobs and contribute an average of AED9.8 billion (SAR10 billion) to Saudi Arabia's annual gross domestic product upon completion of the all the work phases. Governor Amr Al Dabbagh, of the Saudi Arabian General Investment Authority (SAGIA), expressed his office's commitment to help transform Saudi Arabia into one of the world's ten most competitive economies by 2010. DP World, the world's fourth-largest marine port operator, has a portfolio of 43 terminals and 13 new developments across 28 countries. It designs, builds and operates ports as well as provides logistics, infrastructure development and consultancy services.

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