Webinar: Business Opportunities in Saudi Arabia’s Logistics Sector

Join us for a presentation on Saudi Arabia’s logistics sector with a focus on Integrated Logistics Bonded Zones (ILBZs) around airports, the latest developments in the air cargo and logistics sector, and related business opportunities.

Loay Mashabi
Deputy Minister for Logistics Services
Ministry of Transport and Logistics Services

Awad Al-Sulami
VP of Logistics and Special Economic Zones
General Authority for Civil Aviation

Moderator: Ana Carmen Neboisa
Vice President
U.S.-Saudi Business Council

Saudi Arabia launched its National Transport and Logistics Strategy in 2021. This program aims to position the Kingdom as a global logistics hub connecting three continents. Creating and activating special zones geared towards logistics in the proximity of the Kingdom’s major airports, and in particular the establishment and activation of the ILBZs, is an integral facet towards achieving both the targets of the National Transport and Logistics Strategy as well as the National Aviation Sector Strategy (NASS), launched by the General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA) in 2022. NASS is a roadmap that aims to transform Saudi Arabia into the 7th largest passenger market worldwide, 5th largest global passenger connecting hub, the 1st regional cargo hub, and capture 4.5 million tons of air freight.

GACA has recently launched the Special Integrated Logistics Zone near King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh. This 3 million-square-meter zone is Saudi Arabia’s first Special Economic Zone. It is strategically located to serve more than 650 million customers across Africa, Asia, and Europe, linking them through the airport to domestic and regional markets via a railway network. The facility combines a vendor-managed inventory process and zone optimized e-commerce solutions with advanced track and trace facilities resulting in an end-to-end logistics solution that enables processing of goods for dispatch to market within only four hours of arrival.

Key industries targeted by the zone include consumer electronics, computer products, pharmaceuticals, industrial electronics, luxury, jewelry goods, aerospace parts, and waste/e-waste management. In addition, investors are allowed to conduct their own waste and e-waste management. Apple Inc. is among the first tenants of the zone. Incentives offered to companies to establish operations in this zone include:

•  A 50-year tax relief period;
•  Suspension of customs duties and import restrictions;
•  Suspension of VAT on products moved to/from the ILBZ for reassembly, servicing, or maintenance;
•  100% foreign business ownership;
•  No restriction on capital repatriation;
•  Relaxed labor nationalization mandate;
•  Ease of access to permits and certifications.

For more information about the webinar please contact Robert Murden, Research Analyst at rmurden@ussaudi.org