During a visit by the Crown Prince to Paris, Saudi Arabia signed major transport and port contracts with French groups Alstom and CMA CGM worth nearly one billion euros, signaling a broad French-Saudi collaboration in transportation and logistics.

The agreements are part of Saudi Arabia’s push to become a global trade and logistics hub, backed by heavy investments from CMA CGM and Alstom to expand terminal capacity and rail and metro networks.

CMA CGM and Red Sea Gateway Terminal (RSGT) will jointly develop Terminal 4 at Jeddah Port, with an investment of about 434 million euros and a planned capacity increase of around 2.6 million TEUs annually through new deep-water berths.

Terminal 4 will be integrated into RSGT’s Jeddah concession, adding deep-water docks, ten extra dock cranes, and advanced terminal management systems to handle next-generation vessels.

The project includes deepening and infrastructure upgrades to attract regular calls from major international lines and improve efficiency for large container ships through the Red Sea corridor near the Suez Canal.

CMA CGM’s CEO framed the Jeddah project as central to the group’s terminal expansion strategy, underscoring the need for reliable infrastructure to support global trade corridors.

The expansion is set to reshape Asia–Europe–Gulf trade routes with Jeddah as a key hub, boosting Saudi capacity to handle traffic and compete for services serving the world’s largest container ships, though a completion timeline for Terminal 4 was not disclosed.

RSGT brings local operational expertise while CMA CGM contributes its global network, creating a long-term alliance to operate and develop the new terminal.

The project is described as one of the largest foreign direct investment operations in Saudi Arabia’s maritime sector and aligns with Vision 2030 and the National Transportation and Logistics Strategy.

The CMA CGM–RSGT deal includes a dedicated plan to develop Red Sea gateway infrastructure with deep-water berths to handle the world’s largest ships, supported by a multi-hundred-million-dollar investment.

Definitive agreements were signed to jointly develop and operate Terminal 4 at Jeddah’s Mawani port, with the investment specified at 434 million euros.

The Jeddah port development strengthens Saudi Arabia’s role as a regional and global hub amid regional tensions and disruptions to Gulf shipping routes, notably near the Hormuz Strait.