Riyadh, October 2, 2022, SPA -- The Saudi Ports Authority (MAWANI) and Saudi Company for Exchanging Digital Information (Tabadul) today signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the aim of developing new Saudi ports management systems as part of their endeavors to lead the change of the future of commercial movement and guarantee competitiveness and realizing sustainable growth at Saudi ports. The MoU aims at expanding and doubling services provided at Saudi ports from their current number of 46 to 150; empowering modern and emerging technologies according to the best international practices, mainly technologies related to geographical borders and the Internet of Things; and providing safe, quick and advanced services to beneficiaries in the fields of payments and billing with the use of the latest applications FinTech. The memorandum also stipulates re-engineering procedures and operations at Saudi ports, ensuring the level of its conformity to international standards, enhancing their connection to global ports, facilitating the application of smart gates and applying modern emerging technologies that are directly and indirectly related to the Saudi ports management systems. This is part of the Smart Ports initiative that MAWANI has launched to apply modern and advanced automation technologies in a way that realizes plans for digital transformation in the logistical sector, in line with the goals of the National Transport and Logistics Strategy to instill the status of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia as a global logistical hub and a gateway for three continents. MAWANI, through the initiative that was launched in the first quarter of 2022, also seeks to enhance its contributions in realizing the targets of the Saudi Vision 2030 towards a prosperous digital economy through speeding up and enabling 5G technologies in the logistical sector, enhancing cooperation in offering ICT services, activating the approach of innovation, research and development in a way that makes Saudi ports at the top of applying modern technologies and harnesses its competitiveness at the regional and international levels in terms of trading goods and serving importers and exporters. --SPA 15:59 LOCAL TIME 12:59 GMT 0011 www.spa.gov.sa/w1792609