Historic Partnership Launches Land Logistics Corridor Across Empty Quarter

Saudi logistics company Spark has entered into a strategic partnership with its Omani counterpart Arkan to launch a new land corridor connecting the two countries across the Empty Quarter desert. This ambitious project aims to enhance economic integration and facilitate bilateral trade through modern and robust infrastructure.

Massive Engineering Achievements

The new highway spans a total length of 564 kilometers, extending from the Al-Bathaah-Haradh intersection to the Empty Quarter border crossing. Implementing this monumental project cost approximately two billion Saudi Riyals, a figure that reflects the massive investments directed toward developing logistics infrastructure in the region.

Constructing this road took more than 3.3 million working hours, utilizing hundreds of advanced heavy-duty machines. About 150 million cubic meters of sand were removed to ensure the road's stability and make it suitable for the safe and continuous passage of large trucks.

Strategic and Economic Impact

This corridor directly supports the Kingdom's National Transport and Logistics Strategy, which aims to achieve global logistics centrality. This is part of efforts to raise the sector's contribution to GDP and significantly boost non-oil revenues by 2030.

This initiative gains increasing importance amid security challenges facing maritime navigation in the Straits of Hormuz, prompting Gulf states to develop a secure land alternative. The crossing sees a significant surge in cargo flow, reflecting a radical shift toward relying on land routes as a sustainable and effective logistical solution to current challenges.