Abu Dhabi’s AD Ports Group has formed a joint venture with Uzbekistan’s multi-sectoral holding firm SEG Enera Group to provide end-to-end global logistics services across the Central Asian country, the two companies said in a joint statement Monday.
The new joint venture—ADL-Ulanish—will allow AD Ports to bring its expertise in global supply chain logistics to address some of the challenges enterprises face in Uzbekistan, a double landlocked nation surrounded by enterprises by another five landlocked nations.
SEG Enera will provide warehousing capacity alongside rail and trucking fleets. According to the two firms, the joint venture will serve SEG Enera’s business needs and will serve those of other clients within the nation’s market that represents a spectrum of industry sectors, including industrial project logistics, oil and gas, e-commerce, healthcare, and pharmaceuticals.
Some of the services that will be offered by ADL-Ulanish include freight forwarding for air and land logistics; warehousing and storage; customs clearance services; and the development of inland container depots and dry ports.
ADL-Ulanish will also provide a range of digital solutions to boost service integration and efficiency, as well as bring expertise in food security and supply chains to support the creation of a food hub in Uzbekistan, the statement said, adding that Uzbekistan and the broader Central Asian region are vital global land logistics hubs whose regional gross domestic product, according to the World Bank, is projected to grow from 3.9% in 2023 to 4.3% in 2024.
AD Ports was ranked No.70 in Forbes Middle East’s Top Listed Companies 2022 list.
“There is significant demand for freight forwarding and warehousing services in Uzbekistan, which has seen a major economic expansion in recent years, driven by important reforms and modernization efforts,” Farook Al Zeer, AD Ports chairman for its logistics cluster, said in a statement.
According to SEG Enera CEO Timofey Smirnov, further development of the company’s logistics sector will create a range of economic opportunities to support Uzbekistan’s growing role as a hub for trade between East Asia and Europe. Uzbekistan is a major producer of key export items, including oil natural gas, gold, copper, cotton, food, and other strategic commodities.
In July 2022, AD Ports signed two deals with SEG Enera to open a new logistics and freight business and to develop a food trading hub in Uzbekistan. AD Ports also announced the opening of a new office in the country, the group’s first in Central Asia.
A memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed to support the development of an integrated food storage and distribution hub to enhance Uzbekistan’s food trade across global markets and drive Central Asian food security.
AD Ports said under the MoU, the two companies would collaborate on mutual opportunities relating to food storage, transportation, and security and explore related end-to-end solutions for the project.
In June 2022, the UAE and Uzbekistan signed an MoU to support cooperation in 27 sectors, involving initiatives in government modernization to benefit from the UAE’s experience and promote the relations between the two nations.
