In fact, the Kingdom has made rapid progress in planning for and executing various road, air, bus and train projects and some more are in the pipeline. "With the completion of the feasibility study on establishing a coastal transport network, its implementation will be aimed at linking all the major coastal areas of the Kingdom," Abumilha told reporters on the sidelines of the opening of Autocare Arabia, the second international exhibition for the automotive aftermarket, run in conjunction with Freight Logistics Arabia, the second international show for the transport logistics industry and commercial vehicles at the Jeddah Centre for Forums & Events.

Aside from major firms from the Kingdom, a number of companies from the UAE, Egypt, Pakistan, Italy, China, Taiwan, Thailand and Poland are showcasing their products and services for the automotive sector. Chinese truck manufacturers are showcasing their light, medium and heavy-duty trucks. "In addition to trucks of all sizes, which are in great demand due to the ongoing construction boom, we have displayed buses with 19, 25 and 30-seat capacities, Yousuf Al-Jedaie, central area manager of Riyadh-based Jedaie Motors, an importer of China's JAC Motors, told Arab News.

IVECO of Europe, which manufactures trucks in Italy, Spain and Germany, said it has been present in the Saudi market for a long time and the increasing need for trucks is bolstering the demand for its trucks of all sizes.

George Shih, director of the commercial section at the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in Jeddah, said six Taiwanese companies were exhibiting at the show, while 19 others had displayed their catalogues.

Babatin Auto Parts Est.'s Salah A. Babatin said it has exhibited the Japanese and Korean brands of auto parts that were in great demand. 

Saudi Arabia accounts for more than two million of the 4.5 million passenger cars in the GCC. Moreover, the Kingdom's pre-owned cars market constitutes 46 percent of owned cars. The growing car servicing, parts and accessories market is worth $2.5 billion with an annual turnover of four million tires and 1.5 million batteries, according to the Al-Harithy Company for Exhibitions (ACE), which is organizing the four-day event.