Suraisry, Minister of Transport, has said that the Kingdom is witnessing a boom in the transport sector with a total of 53,000 km of roads across the nation completed and an additional 26,000 km under construction. Al-Suraisry, speaking at a recent Arab Transport Forum in Cairo, emphasized the importance of transportation for development, noting that the Ministry had issued 29,572 permits for transport vehicles and 2,786 transport company licenses. Al-Suraisry said that large sector developments reflected the fact that 90 percent of Saudi exports were transported by sea. There are currently eight Saudi ports on the Red Sea and the Arabian Gulf, with a new port under construction. “The ports are equipped to the highest standards and with the very latest facilities, safety measures and infrastructure,” Al-Suraisry said. Al-Suraisry made special mention of three giant projects currently under construction: The 2,400 km of railway to connect the north-west to Riyadh and Ras Al-Zour Port on the Gulf; the Land Causeway connecting King Abdul Aziz Port on the Gulf to Jeddah Islamic Port on the Red Sea, with a further connection to the Industrial City of Jubail, and the Two Holy Mosques Express, an electric railway linking Madina to Makkah through Jeddah and Rabegh on the Red Sea. The first of the projects will permit direct transportation of bauxite from the north of the Kingdom to Riyadh and the east. The second will transport goods arriving in Dammam from East Asia to western markets, while the express train will mainly serve pilgrims traveling between the holy sites. The third one is the Two Holy Mosques Express which is an electrical railway that extends for 500 km linking Madina to Makkah through Jeddah and Rabegh on the Red Sea. This would mainly serve pilgrims. Ala'a Al-Bataynah, Jordanian Minister of Transport, described Saudi Arabia's boom as “unprecedented.” “In Jordan we hope to link our transport network to the ones in Saudi Arabia and Syria, and the Arabian to the European network,” Al-Bataynah said. Al-Bataynah ruled out any impact on the sector from the global financial crisis. “It is a profitable sector that is not affected by bourses. The desire to invest in the sector is still the same,” he said. – Okaz/SG __
