By Ron Chen, Bureau Chief, Asia

One of the world’s leading integrated energy and chemicals companies, Aramco,and international contract logistics provider DHL Supply Chain have announced the signing of a shareholders’ agreement for a new Procurement and Logistics Hub in Saudi Arabia, to enhance supply chain efficiency and sustainability. It would be the region’s first such hub catering to customers in the industrial, energy, chemical and petrochemical sectors. The joint venture aims to be operational in 2025 and provide reliable end-to-end integrated procurement and supply chain services for companies across the industrial, energy, chemical and petrochemical sectors. The joint venture would initially focus on Saudi Arabia, with aspirations to expand across the MENA region.

Aramco’s preeminent energy and industrial supply chain ecosystem and DHL’s world-class logistics expertise are expected to enable the joint venture to add value in meeting customers’ supply chain purchasing, warehouse and inventory management, transportation and reverse logistics needs. The aim is for the joint venture to achieve industry best practices in procurement and supply chain management, as well as the deployment of more sustainable supply chain, transport and warehousing solutions.

Aramco President & CEO, Amin H. Nasser said: “This partnership brings together two industry leaders, each with long and storied histories. By combining the exceptional energy, chemicals and industrial supply chain ecosystem of Aramco with the world-class shipping and logistics expertise of DHL, we aim to enable the Procurement and Logistics Hub joint venture to serve as a one-stop hub for customers’ supply chain needs. We anticipate that it will not only advance the economic goals of our two companies but also accelerate growth across Saudi Arabia and the MENA region.”

DHL Supply Chain CEO, Oscar de Bok said: “We are extremely excited to announce the signing of this agreement with Aramco. Through it, DHL intends to foster its business operations and logistics networks throughout Saudi Arabia and the MENA region while expanding our industrial footprint. By working in partnership with Aramco, we aim to provide regional and multinational businesses from these sectors access to a robust international logistics network, fostering positive economic growth while promoting sustainable activities.”

Through state-of-the-art technologies, the joint venture is expected to allow businesses to reduce costs, maximize efficiency and harness digitalization. It represents the culmination of several years of cooperation between the two companies, and aims to transform inventory and logistics management, expand business, create jobs and enable economic diversification in Saudi Arabia and the MENA region.

The formation of the joint venture is subject to regulatory approvals and other customary closing conditions.

Ericsson, Saab and Indiana’s Purdue University partner on 5G network at Purdue Airport

Purdue University Airport, in collaboration with industry partners Ericsson and Saab, has announced the creation of a unique 5G network that will serve as a “lab to life” proving ground for academics, researchers and business to develop commercial solutions that can be replicated to improve operations and security at airports of all sizes.

The project aims to bring to life the benefits of private 5G for airports, where new high-performance networks can be tested in real-life scenarios.

Ericsson will contribute a private 5G network for the Purdue Research Foundation to operate at the Purdue University Airport in the US State of Indiana.