RIYADH, 13 January — A leading Saudi firm has signed a major agreement with an Iraq company to overland goods transport between the two countries.
The agreement was signed between Saudi Land Transport Co. (Mubarrad) and General Land Transport Company of Iraq here on Tuesday. Under the deal, Mubarrad will open offices in Baghdad and near Fallija to direct its loading and offloading operations. The agreement was signed by Mubarrad’s chairman and managing director, Khaled ibn Ibrahim Al-Namlah, and Dr. Muhammad Sabir Al-Mousawi on behalf of the Iraqi company.
Mubarrad currently has a fleet of 1,100 trucks of various sizes, a part of which will be used for ferrying cargo to Iraq. The agreement between the two major transport companies in the Kingdom and Iraq indicates that the GCC-Iraq trade is likely to grow, local diplomats believe.
The United Nations committee, which is responsible for approving supplies to Iraq, has recently broadened the list of items allowed to be shipped into the country under the UN oil-for-food program.
The list includes foodstuffs, medicines, health supplies, electrical and agricultural equipment, sanitation ware and educational tools. Until August 2000, the Security Council committee approved contracts valued at $10.46 billion for supplies to Iraq. Saudi businessmen closed contracts worth $440 million with Iraq in 1999.
Mubarrad has also signed an SR155 million transport contract with the Saudi Arabian Basic Industries Corporation (SABIC) this week to transport SABIC products to Jordan, Syria, Lebanon and the United Arab Emirates.
