The expansion of Jubail Commercial Port is not affected by the current financial downturn. The port is continuing to pursue its development programs to better serve the Kingdom's export sector, according to Captain Fahad A. Al-Amer, Director General of Jubail Commercial Port. Al-Amer made this assurance during a luncheon meeting organized this weekend by Maersk Line to welcome the visit of Robert Jan Trooijen, CEO of Maersk LineWest and Central Asia Region, and attended by top executives of petrochemical and industrial companies based in Jubail Industrial City. “The commercial port's development targets are ongoing in anticipation of the future surge in Saudi Arabia's exports that will be loading from Jubail,” Al-Amer said. Among the expansion and development projects of Jubail Commercial Ports are the continuing privatization of cargo handling, which is now being undertaken by two private companies, improvement of the berths and their infrastructures to accommodate bigger ships, and expansion of the cargo handling facilities to cope with the projected increase in Saudi exports as a result of the coming on stream of petrochemical and industrial companies at Jubail 2. He said the Jubail Commercial Port is also looking forward to the expansion of the Saudi Railway Organization that will link the port with the Riyadh dry dock and onward to the Kingdom's Southern Region. Al-Amer said Saudi Arabia's development plans, including those involving ports, will continue to be undertaken despite the global economic slowdown. Trooijen, the visiting Maersk Line CEO, said that although the forecast of growth in the global economy in 2009 will be slow overall, Maersk Line and other international shipping companies remain strongly committed to serve the Kingdom and the region. Among those present during the luncheon meeting were Douglas Holyroyd, executive vice president of Kemya, Dr. Adul Aziz Al-Batti, general manager of Tasnee supply chain, Khalil Al-Gannas, CEO and chairman of Jubail Energy Services Co, Ayoub A. Al-Ghamdi of Saudi Chevron, and Riyad I.Al-Saad, president of Sisco, and officials and executive of Maersk Line.
