IRU in Saudi Arabia, delivered a keynote speech on TIR as a critical tool to improve global and regional connectivity at the Saudi Supply Chain Conference, which was followed by a TIR workshop later that week.
With more than 30% of the world’s trade crossing the Red Sea, Saudi Arabia is pivotal for transit through the Gulf Cooperation Council countries and the Middle East due to its geographic and economic status.
IRU’s Senior Adviser for the Middle East, Rani Wehbe, headlined the event, where he engaged several hundreds of participants from the private and public sectors with a presentation outlining Saudi’s trade and logistics potential through the use of a harmonised transit system like TIR.
Saudi Arabia’s transformation into a logistics hub linking Asia, Europe and Africa is one of the pillars of the Saudi Vision 2030, and the country is currently finalising the formal procedures to accede to the TIR Convention, with the aim to implement it in 2018.
Mr Wehbe explained IRU’s role to work with all pertinent stakeholders to implement the TIR system and improve and professionalise road and cross border transport.
The TIR workshop will be held under the patronage of Saudi Customs and will provide a complete overview of the TIR system, with training on the functional and administrative aspects.
Around 30 customs officials from different departments and customs offices are expected to participate. The workshop is part of IRU’s training plan and TIR implementation roadmap as agreed with Saudi Customs in preparation for the implementation of TIR in 2018.
