Six leading figures in the Saudi ports industry: Jubarah bin Eid al-Suraiseri, Khaled bin Ahmad Abdulrahman Bubshait, Saher Tahlawi, Faisal al-Qahtani, Mohammed Ahmad Youssef Zainal Alireza and Fares al-Blawi
Jubarah bin Eid al-Suraiseri
Position: Transport Minister
Biography: Appointed Transport Minister in 2003, Jubarah bin Eid al-Suraiseri is charged with creating an integrated transport strategy. Saudi Arabia is investing $50bn in port development over the period 2005-2015. As chairman of both the Saudi Railways Organisation and the Saudi Seaports Authority (SPA), Al-Suraiseri’s brief is broad, but the appointment of Khaled Bubshait in 2008 to head the national port development strategy has freed him to focus on rail expansion. The $5bn Saudi Landbridge will carry cargo between Jeddah Islamic Port, inland depots in Riyadh and King Abdulaziz Port in Dammam. Al-Suraiseri holds a PhD from the University of Colorado in the US. His career includes Washington-based posts with the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, before his first ministerial appointment in 1989 as deputy minister for international economic co-operation.
Contact Tel: (+966) 1404 3000
Khaled bin Ahmad Abdulrahman Bubshait
Position: President of Saudi Seaports Authority
Biography: Khaled bin Ahmad Abdulrahman Bubshait took the helm at the SPA in early summer 2007. Arriving at a time of upheaval in the Saudi ports sector, with several 10-year port management concessions coming up for review at the end of the year, he supervised a tendering and award process that was widely hailed for its transparency. SPA’s priority now is to address issues of capacity at Jizan, Ras al-Zour, Yanbu and other ports. Bubshait was previously professor of project and operations management at King Fahd University of Petroleum & Minerals. He has worked in consultancy for clients including the Military Industries Corporation and Saudi Arabian Mining Company (Maaden), and is a member of the Eastern Province Chamber of Commerce, sitting on its industrial committee. He led the project team that established the kingdom’s National Training Programme.
Contact Tel: (+966) 1408 9996
Saher Tahlawi
Position: Director general, Jeddah Islamic Port
Biography: Saher Tahlawi is director general of Jeddah Islamic Port (JIP), which in 2008 handled 65 per cent of all goods imported into Saudi Arabia. Tahlawi’s brief includes the monitoring of Hajj ferries, which are used by up to 35,000 pilgrims a year. With a throughput of 3.1 million 20-foot equivalent units (TEUs) in 2008, JIP is the second-largest container port in the GCC. Jeddah has built up a thriving mix of domestic traffic and trans-shipment of cargo being transported between Europe and Asia. This role was boosted by the decision to hand management of Jeddah South Container Terminal to Dubai Ports World in 1999. However, Jeddah risks becoming a victim of its own success. It is estimated to have handle 3.3 million TEUs in 2008, but has a nominal capacity of just 3.5 million TEUs. The new capacity that Tusdeer’s Red Sea Gateway Terminal will deliver in 2010 will not come soon enough.
Contact Tel: (+966) 2647 1200
Faisal al-Qahtani
Position: Senior vice-president and managing director, Middle East & Africa, DP World
Biography: Faisal al-Qahtani joined DP World in 2007 as managing director for the Middle East and Africa. After joining National Shipping Company of Saudi Arabia in 1986, he rose through the ranks to become regional manager for the Arabian Gulf and Indian sub-continent, before becoming general manager of United Maritime Lines. Dubai port management giant DP World took over the concession to manage Jeddah South Container Terminal in 1999, a major part of Al-Qahtani’s current role. The 2005 acquisition of CSX World Terminals turned DP World into a global port manager, with nearly 50 terminals worldwide. DP World has signed a memorandum of understanding with Emaar, The Economic City, to manage the $6bn, 20-million-TEU mega-port under construction at King Abdullah Economic City, which is set to become one of the 10 largest ports in the world.
Contact Tel: (+971) 4881 1110
Mohammed Ahmad Youssef Zainal Alireza
Position: Chairman, Saudi Industrial Services Company (Tusdeer)
Biography: Mohammed Ahmed Zainal Alireza, chairman of Tusdeer, is a member of one of Jeddah’s most powerful business families. Alireza is chairman of several family interests, including Xenel Industries and Tusdeer, and is overseeing the building of a new terminal at Jeddah Islamic Port that aims to ease congestion and provide much-needed additional container capacity on the Red Sea. When it opens in October 2010, Tusdeer’s Red Sea Gateway Terminal will be able to handle 1.5 million TEUs a year, its three berths increasing Jeddah’s container capacity by 45 per cent. Construction began in January 2008, and the project represents investment of $453m on the part of the Jeddah-based company. Dredged to 18 metres, the port will be able to handle the largest modern container ships.
Contact Tel: (+966) 1657 4455
Fares al-Blawi
Position: CEO, Al-Blagha Holding Group
Biography: Fares al-Blawi is chief executive officer of Al-Blagha Holding Group. He studied electrical engineering at King Fahd University for Petroleum & Minerals before completing a Master’s degree in finance at City University in the UK. This laid the foundations for a career in investment banking, specialising in risk analysis and corporate finance. Riyadh-headquartered Al-Blagha Holding Group has interests in terminal operations, freight forwarding and shipping. Its port management power base is in Dammam, where its subsidiary, Transport Maritime Company, is local partner to Hong Kong-based terminal management giant Hutchison Port Holdings. Operating as International Port Services (IPS), the partners are positioning the King Abdulaziz Port in Dammam as a gateway to the oil-rich Eastern Province and the upper Gulf. IPS manages six container and two multi-purpose berths at Dammam.
Contact Tel: (+966) 1453 1731
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