Press Releases

The Minister of Transport and Logistic Services of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, H.E. Saleh Al-Jasser, paid an official visit to Cyprus on Monday, 2 September 2024.

During his visit, the Minister met with the Minister of Transport, Communications and Works of the Republic of Cyprus, Mr Alexis Vafeades, with the participation of delegations from the two Ministries, at the Ministry of Transport, Communications and Works of the Republic of Cyprus in Lefkosia.

Subsequently, the two Ministers visited the port of Limassol (Lemesos), where they were greeted by the Deputy Minister of Shipping of the Republic of Cyprus, Ms Marina Hadjimanolis. Mr Vafeades and Ms Hadjimanolis had a bilateral meeting with their Saudi Arabian counterpart, followed by a tour around the port of Limassol, in the presence of the Cyprus Port Authority, DP World Limassol, P&O Maritime and Eurogate officials.

The Ministers made the following statements to the media:

The Minister of Transport, Communications and Works of the Republic of Cyprus, Mr Alexis Vafeades, stated: “Your Excellency, I would first like to welcome you again to Cyprus and state how grateful we are for your presence here. It was a real pleasure to host you at the port of Limassol, where we had the opportunity to tour the premises and describe the activities of the port.

I must say, it was also a pleasure to meet with you in Nicosia (Lefkosia), where we had the chance to discuss not only infrastructure works in Cyprus but also issues regarding postal services and other public operations in Cyprus.

We also had the chance to discuss our common challenges and how cooperation between our two countries can help us solve issues that we face in the coming future.

I believe that there is a lot of ground where we can work together and we can improve our bilateral relations.

We are really looking forward to that and we are hoping that what we have started today will continue and we will have a chance to grow on this partnership, with this cooperation and find ways of adding value to the people of both our countries. So once again, I would like to thank you for your presence here in Cyprus and we are looking forward to meeting you again.”

The Deputy Minister of Shipping of the Republic of Cyprus, Ms Marina Hadjimanolis, stated: “It is with great honour that I have welcomed today His Excellency the Minister of Transport and Logistic Services of Saudi Arabia, Mr Saleh Al-Jasser, at the port of Limassol.

During our productive discussions this morning, we focused on various issues of mutual interest between the Republic of Cyprus and Saudi Arabia and discussed ways for common actions and initiatives in matters associated to maritime transport.

Amongst other things, we discussed prospects for cooperation, ways of further reinforcing the collaboration between the two countries on matters in the shipping sector and, most importantly, establishing a line of communication for the maritime agreement in order to move forward and implement the ideas we have discussed, including the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), both in the maritime transport and shipping sector.

I would like to reaffirm the strong ties between the two countries, especially at the International Maritime Organisation (IMO), and our excellent cooperation and constant support. Looking forward to meeting His Excellency again.”

The Minister of Transport and Logistic Services of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Mr Saleh Al-Jasser, stated: “Thank you very much, Your Excellencies. I am truly delighted to visit Cyprus and very thankful for the great hospitality extended to us throughout the visit. We had very constructive meetings, discussing areas of potential collaboration between the two countries.

The two countries already enjoy strong ties and strong collaboration in the international community when it comes to transportation and logistics. So, we work together in the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) and the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) and the other international organisations.

The discussions have been very fruitful on areas of common interest in the maritime sector, where we can finalise the MoU and develop our relationship in the maritime sector and also in seafarer certificates, [and] improve aviation connectivity between the two countries. Also, explore how we can encourage and support our operators from both countries to start direct flights and maritime connectivity.

As you know, Saudi Arabia is implementing its vision 2030. And under that is the national strategy for logistics and transportation, where we aspire to transform Saudi Arabia into a logistics hub and also build strong partnership and connectivity with other countries and Cyprus. Cyprus is a friendly country that we enjoy a strong relationship [with], [and] should be one of the potential partners to expand our relationship. I am very happy and thankful, and I think we close this visit with a lot of action plans that we have agreed together. I look forward to finalising these. I also look forward to welcoming you both in Saudi Arabia as soon as possible.”

The meeting at the port was hosted by DP World Limassol, one of the three Concessionaire’s operating the Port, in cooperation with the Ministry of Transport, Communication and Works of the Republic of Cyprus in the passenger lounge of the General Cargo Terminal.

(SuP/AP/GS)