The Transport, Border Crossings, Ports Committee at the Saudi-Iraqi Coordination Council here Wednesday held a meeting under the presidency of Minister of Transport and Logistic Services Eng. Saleh Bin Nasser Al-Jasser, and Iraqi Minister of Transport Nasser Al-Shibli. The meeting was attended by several leaders of the transport and logistics services sector from both countries, where both sides agreed on increasing the commercial exchange through Jadidah-Arar border crossing. This they would accomplish through facilitating procedures and speeding up commercial exchange movement at the crossing in a way that the handling process does not take more than four hours for each container, in addition to referring periodic reports for measurement and improvement. The two sides also agreed to rehabilitate the Jadidah-Arar border crossing from both ends through implementing an expansion project for the road connecting the crossing with the Saudi borders. At the level of maritime transport and ports, discussions included the cooperation agreement between the government of Saudi Arabia and the government of Iraq in the maritime transport field, where both sides agreed to sign the agreement once all internal procedures are completed. The two sides also approved members of the technical committee for the maritime transport in both countries, providing that the committee holds its first meeting during the fourth quarter of 2021 to discuss mechanisms to execute the cooperation agreement in the maritime transport field. The committee would also discuss most important issues pertaining to enhancing the role of ports and activating the maritime route between King Abdulaziz Port in Dammam and Umm Qasr Port in Iraq. As for the air transport, both sides agreed to activate the air transport agreement and discussed means to continue technical cooperation between the two countries, mainly in the fields of air transport, air safety and aviation and airport security. — SPA
