Hutchison Ports and King Salman Energy Park (SPARK) announced the signing of the 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.

 (Front row seated, L-R) Nabil Chaachou, VP of Strategy & Business Development of SPARK; Saif Al Qahtani, president and CEO of SPARK; Eric Ip, group managing director of Hutchison Ports; Clemence Cheng, managing director, Europe of Hutchison Ports. (Back row standing, L-R) Andy Tsoi, managing director, Middle East and Africa of Hutchison Ports; Eric Ng, business director, Europe of Hutchison Ports. Photo: Hutchison Ports

In a statement, Hutchison Ports said a signing ceremony was held to commemorate the special occasion, and it was attended by senior management from both companies.

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$400M 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, and bonded and non-bonded logistics solutions tailored to the needs of the SPARK energy ecosystem.

The announcement noted that the Dry Port would accelerate the Eastern Province's development as a regional logistics powerhouse with the integration of future GCC rail links, GCC highway and multiple expressways connected to the SPARK site.

"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 operational readiness phase," said Eng. Saif Al Qahtani, president and CEO of SPARK.

"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," he added.

Eric Ip, group managing director of Hutchison Ports, also welcomed the concession agreement with SPARKS.

"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," Ip said. 

"This partnership represents Hutchison Ports' continued commitment to the Kingdom, and we look forward to a fruitful partnership with future business opportunities," he added.