AD Ports launches RoRo shipping service to Kuwait via Khalifa

AD Ports Group has announced the launch of a new direct RoRo shipping service between UAE’s Khalifa Port and Kuwait’s Shuwaikh Port.

The new service aims to improve commercial connectivity and trade with Kuwait, the group reported.

The volume of trade exchanged between the UAE and the countries of the region has recently witnessed significant growth.

According to the group, this is due to a set of business agreements and strategic partnerships with neighbouring countries, including, but not limited to, the agreements AD Ports Group signed with Egypt, Jordan, Iraq and Turkey.

AD Ports Group announced just last week the signing of a 30-year concession agreement with the Red Sea Ports Authority to develop and operate a multi-purpose port in Safaga, Egypt.

In November 2022, AD Ports Group and the International Development Bank (IDB) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to review opportunities for ports and logistics projects that could enhance trade flows between the UAE and Iraq.

READ: AD Ports Group delivers record-setting revenue figures for 2022

The long-standing bilateral trade ties between the two GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council) countries in recent years has seen a rapid growth in several key commodity markets, according to official figures. 

During 2022, the Federal Competitiveness and Statistics Centre’s preliminary data showed an increase in non-oil trade exchange between the two countries estimated at AED 43.5 billion ($11.8 billion), compared to AED 38.5 billion ($10.5 billion) in 2021, recording 13 per cent growth.

Additionally, the value of non-oil exports to Kuwait increased from AED 12.7 billion ($3.5 billion) to AED 14.2 billion ($3.9 billion).

The value of re-exports to Kuwait also increased from AED 20.9 billion ($5.7 billion) to AED 21.9 billion ($6 billion), coinciding with the increase in imports to the UAE from AED 4.9 billion ($1.3 billion) to AED 7.3 billion ($2 billion).

AD Ports Group has entered into a plethora of agreements to expand its connectivity throughout other parts of the world in the past year.

Earlier this year, AD Ports Group signed Strategic Agreements with KazMunayGas and a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Industry & Infrastructural Development.

These agreements signalled a significant expansion for AD Ports Group in Central Asia and Kazakhstan.

More recently, AD Ports Group signed a Head of Terms (HoT) with the Ministry of International Cooperation and Promotion of Public Private Partnership of the Republic of Congo, for a new multipurpose terminal in Pointe-Noire, Republic of Congo.