Saudi Arabia launches the 'Global Supply Chain Resilience Initiative' (GSCRI) under the patronage of HRH the Crown Prince

30 Oct

His Royal Highness Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz, Crown Prince, Prime Minister and Chairman of the Council for Economic and Development Affairs, announced the launch of the Global Supply Chain Resilience Initiative (GSCRI). The GSCRI aims to make Saudi Arabia an important location for leading global industrial companies looking to drive competitive advantages and improve business resilience.

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is at the centre of global trade – bordering two of the world’s busiest shipping routes (Red Sea and Arabian Gulf) and maintains a strong economy and a strategic location, linking three continents. The GSCRI helps to strengthen regional and global supply chains while giving investors a competitive advantage. The GSCRI also complements Saudi Vision 2030’s goal of achieving economic growth and diversity and links prominently with an ambitious sustainability agenda, supported by the Saudi Green Initiative, which includes the expansion of the renewable energy sector.

The initiative has four main themes: sustainability and climate change, future industry enablement, global supply diversification, advanced manufacturing. The GSCRI incorporates maritime infrastructure logistics, as well as energy investment in the development of Blue and Green hydrogen production.

GSCRI is a core National Investment Strategy (NIS) initiative and works to strengthen the Kingdom’s position as a key contributor to global supply chain resilience. In addition, it will further enhance the Kingdom’s position within regional and global export economies. This will be accomplished by drawing foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows to export-oriented products and services in different sectors of the Kingdom. The strategy also aims to achieve an industrial economy that attracts investment and contributes to economic diversification and develops domestic products and non-oil exports in line with the objectives of Saudi Vision 2030.

Saudi Arabia is home to one of the best transport networks and the world’s highest concentrations of road connectivity, enabling a dynamic trade route and efficient supply chains. Coupled with the ambitious reform agenda making the Kingdom one of the easiest places to do business, Saudi Arabia’s strong infrastructure is set to establish the country as a rising global trade hub. Saudi Ports Authority has rolled out its new Mawani Smart Ports Initiative. It looks to utilize the strong 5G infrastructure in the Kingdom to deploy automation technologies at its various ports. Through a partnership with leading ICT private sector players Ericsson, STC, and Huawei, as well as major transport investor DP World, the Mawani Smart Ports Initiative will see port operations progressively automated, as well as accelerate the use of cloud computing, cyber-tech, and processing platforms by port stakeholders

GSCRI includes the development of Blue and Green hydrogen production; to make Saudi Arabia the largest producer and exporter of this product, as well as pioneering steps in the development and application of carbon capture technologies, which supports the National Initiative for Global Supply Chains in one of its main axes to attract green investment opportunities such as: manufacturing metals using green hydrogen, manufacturing hydrogen production devices by electrolysis, advanced industries in recycling and others, in furtherance of Saudi Arabia’s initiatives for the circular carbon economy

The GSCRI will also build successful investments, which will give greater flexibility to economies, businesses and consumers around the world. It will ensure the provision and sustainability of supply chain access to all parts of the world effectively and with highly competitive advantages. Finally, the GSCRI will bring the Kingdom closer to achieving its Vision 2030 aspirations to be a top 15 global economy by 2030 and leave a prosperous legacy for future generations.