Maqta Gateway, the digital arm of AD Ports, and the Aqaba Development Corporation (ADC) have signed a shareholders’ agreement for their existing joint venture company, Maqta Ayla, to digitize Aqaba port operations.
Maqta Gateway will have a 51 percent stake in Maqta Ayla, while ADC will own 49 percent.
The joint venture company will revolutionize Aqaba’s port operations by implementing a Port Community System (PCS) that leverages Maqta Gateway’s expertise, also marking the first-ever export of Abu Dhabi’s key port digitalization solution.
The PCS will facilitate communications and transactions between the Ports of Aqaba, its terminal operators, the Aqaba Special Economic Zone Authority (ASEZA), ADC, and other stakeholders within the port’s ecosystem, streamlining services and building next-level efficiencies for the port city of Aqaba and Jordan.
The solution is expected to be operational within twelve months, expecting to deliver carbon emission reductions worth 90,000 in-person visits within a year of its implementation.
The shareholders’ agreement was signed in the UAE on the sidelines of the 20th Transport Middle East Conference in the presence of Nayef Al Fayez, Chief Commissioner of Aqaba Special Economic Zone Authority, and Captain Mohamed Juma Al Shamisi, Managing Director and Group CEO of AD Ports Group, by Hussein Ali Al Safadi, CEO of Aqaba Development Corporation, and Dr. Noura Al Dhaheri, CEO of Digital Custer and Maqta Gateway, AD Ports Group.
The Ports of Aqaba are situated at the crossroads of three continents and handle 80 percent of Jordan’s exports and 65 percent of its imports. Aqaba’s Container Terminal is the second busiest in terms of volume along the Red Sea and the fourth biggest in the region, with annual traffic of approximately 1.3 million TEUs.
In addition, it serves as a key transit point for the trade demands of its neighboring countries, necessitating constant expansion and digital transformation.
