SIMIC

HONG Kong's Hutchison Ports and King Salman Energy Park (SPARK) have inked a concession agreement to manage and operate SPARK's dry port and bonded logistics zone (Dry Port).

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 that is in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia. Under the concession, ECLC will be an exclusive operator of a 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 as a regional logistics powerhouse with the integration of future GCC rail link, GCC highway and multiple expressways connected to SPARK site.



Saif Al Qahtani, SPARK's president and CEO said, 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."