Highest Regional Progress on (LSCI), Achieved

The Kingdom recorded progress in the liner shipping connectivity index (LSCI) with international shipping lines, as reported by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) for the third quarter of 2021.

It achieved (70.68) points to be the country with the highest regional progress, in terms of the indicator, an step that is a part of the Kingdom’s efforts to raise its competitiveness and enhancing its international presence, in the maritime transport sector, in the region.

The Kingdom’s rise on the global index comes despite the challenges the world faced as a result of the pandemic, which resulted in a rise in shipping costs, and this progress is directly due in light of the partnerships held by the General Authority of Ports with operators and major international shipping lines, as well as the government sector.

Part of that, was due to the transport and logistics services, through programs and initiatives to enhance the Kingdom’s leadership in the region, and to contribute to transforming it into a global logistics center.

General Authority of Ports had recently launched 5 shipping lines; which contributed to an increase in the number of handling of the total volume of containers by 116% to reach 418,462 TEUs, from the beginning of this year until the end of September 2021.

The global index, which measures the level of interdependence of the world’s ports with shipping line networks every quarter, aims to help countries identify challenges and find opportunities to develop and improve their performance in the field of logistics services.