Agility: Saudi Arabia documentary
After listing on the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange, Agility Global sought to enhance stakeholders' understanding of its business. With 25 years of experience in Saudi Arabia, the company is enthusiastic about the opportunities this dynamic Kingdom offers amidst its ongoing economic transformation. To highlight Saudi Arabia’s ambitions and significant investments in logistics, and to showcase Agility Global’s own contributions to the Kingdom and surrounding markets, they commissioned us to produce a short documentary film.
Speakers: Narrator; H.E.Eng. Saleh bin Nasser Al-Jasser - Minster of Transport and Logistic Services; Rakan Al-Otaishan - Chairman, National Logistics Committee, Federation of Saudi Chambers Deputy CEO, Al-Otaishan Holding; Dominik Baumeister - Partner, PwC Global and Middle East Head, Transport and Logistics; Jehan Alsaeed - GM, Logistic Services Policies and Regulations, Ministry of Transport & Logistic Services, Saudi Arabia; Michel Saab - CEO, Agility Logistics Park; Tarek Sultan - Vice-Chair of Agility, at the Agility Logistics Park, Riyadh; Omar Al Soufi - Chief Commercial Officer, Mapit and EzPay, Saudi Arabia; and Mariam Al-Foudery - Chief Marketing Officer, Agility
Narrator: In the heart of the Middle East lies a vision to redefine global trade and logistics connecting the world in new ways.
A bold plan from Saudi Arabia positions the Kingdom at the center of global commerce.
H.E.Eng. Saleh bin Nasser Al-Jasser: Turning Saudi Arabia into a true global logistics hub.
Rakan Al-Otaishan: You can see the amount of investment that has been made in the logistics sector. It is a significant amount of money.
Dominik Baumeister: I've seen nothing similar in the world over the last decade or more.
Jehan Alsaeed: We're running before walking.
Narrator: Saudi Arabia connects three continents: Asia, Europe and Africa.
For centuries, the Kingdom has served as a hub for the exchange of goods and ideas.
Now it aims to become a global trade gateway for the future.
H.E.Eng. Saleh bin Nasser Al-Jasser: I have never been as optimistic about the future of logistics.
Dominik Baumeister: The government here really switched - from maybe five or six years ago, seeing logistics as a cost, to now, the real enabler of ‘Vision 2030’.
I think everybody now understands, the government and the private sector, that ‘Vision 2030’ cannot be achieved without logistics.
Rakan Al-Otaishan: Pre ‘Vision 2030’, the logistics was scattered. ‘Vision 2030’ helped to redefine the logistics sector.
Narrator: ‘Vision 2030’ is a Saudi strategy to diversify its economy, reducing its reliance on oil, which makes up more than 30% percent of Saudi GDP. (Source: GASTAT, 2023)
Logistics is central to this effort, with the sector projected to grow annually by almost 6% to $35.9 billion by 2030.
The Kingdom is targeting $267 billion in transport and logistics investment.
More than a third of that investment is expected to come from the private sector.
Dominik Baumeister: The investment itself is perhaps still a little slower than we and probably the government would have hoped.
Having said that, it's definitely happening.
Narrator: Agility is investing around $163 million in a state of the art logistics park near the Port of Jeddah.
It’s also spending around $66 million dollars expanding its warehousing complex in Riyadh, creating 300 new jobs. It has a similar complex in Dammam.
Michel Saab: Recent reform in Saudi Arabia has been creating an incredibly dynamic market for logistics and I think we are very lucky to be here at this time and we are very excited about what’s coming.
Tarek Sultan: We have companies like Agility. We have Saudi companies like SPL, that are also deploying technology at scale, and they will be the global players.
Narrator: These developments are designed to support both traditional trade and a surging e-commerce sector.
Omar Al Soufi: 2025 we project to go for $20 billion on the e-commerce market.
You can see that Amazon is now opening warehouses here and you can see that Alibaba is opening their offices at the moment here.
And if they did not find that this is a really great place to be working, they were not going to be here.
Narrator: The Kingdom knows the foundation for continued growth lies in ‘Special Economic Zones’.
The ‘Riyadh Integrated Special Logistics Zone’ is a three-kilometer square hub near King Khalid International Airport.
It is one of five special economic zones in Saudi Arabia and the Kingdom intends to establish 59 such zones by 2030.
Rakan Al-Otaishan: Any country cannot succeed without having a special economic zone, or free zones. They are the most important enablers of logistics investments.
Narrator: Streamlining the regulatory process and strengthening the Saudi workforce are recognised as key to the vision’s success.
Mariam Al-Foudery: Saudi Arabia knows that it needs to invest not only in the hard infrastructure required to drive its growth vision, but also in the human capital.
You’ve seen such a massive change in the workforce, with growing diversification efforts and the entrance of women into the workforce in record numbers.
Jehan Alsaeed: The private sector is leading the way by encouraging us to put the right regulations, amend policies, laws where we see fit, to be an actual logistics hub.
We will do what it takes to achieve that.
Narrator: Saudi Arabia says it’s ready to turn challenges into opportunities, redefining the future of logistics on the global stage.
