RIYADH: The Saudi Ports Authority (Mawani) and Medlog, the logistics arm of the Mediterranean Shipping Co., have signed an agreement to build the first integrated logistics park and a re-export zone at King Abdulaziz Port in Dammam, the Saudi Press Agency reported. The deal, worth more than SR100 million ($27 million), will help achieve Mawani’s goals of increasing the number of national re-export logistics centers to 30 and raising the Kingdom’s logistics performance index ranking to 4.01 by 2030. The development will cover 100,000 square meters and will have the capacity to handle 300,000 containers a year, streamlining transportation throughout the country. The SPA said its location near Jubail Industrial City and other major centers in eastern Saudi Arabia would give the port a competitive advantage, improving its logistical operations. The agreement was signed in the presence of Saudi Minister of Transport Saleh bin Nasser Al-Jasser, his deputy Dr. Rumaih Al-Rumaih, Mawani President Omar bin Talal Hariri, and Meldog’s Chief Executive Officer Hisham Al-Ansari. Over the past two years, Mawani, the primary developer of the Kingdom’s maritime transport sector, has struck strategic agreements with local and international partners to establish six integrated logistics parks with more than SR2 billion in investments, creating at least 6,000 direct and indirect job opportunities in the first phase.