With precautionary controls from Corona ... the resumption of trade exchange between Qatar and Saudi Arabia

Commercial traffic and export and import operations between Qatar and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia returned yesterday, Sunday, after the Customs Administration decided to open the crossing for trucks in both directions, while applying the precautionary measures related to the Coronavirus.

The Land Customs Administration resumed its customs procedures for receiving trucks at Abu Samra Crossing (110 kilometers from Doha) in coordination with the Saudi side at Salwa Crossing (450 kilometers from Riyadh), facilitating vehicle transit procedures, and terminating travelers' procedures in the shortest possible time.

This decision is a translation of the Al-Ula agreement last month, which declared the Gulf reconciliation after a crisis that began in June 2017.

The Director of the Land Customs Department, Murshid Shaheen Al-Kuwari, said - in a statement to Qatar News Agency (QNA) - that the Land Customs Department inside the port is fully prepared, and in continuous coordination with government agencies working at the port, and that the number of X-ray inspection devices that work according to the best specifications has been increased. Global, to facilitate transit operations in the best of circumstances.

Before the beginning of the Gulf crisis, the port used to witness the crossing of between 600 and 800 trucks daily, according to the permanent committee for the management of Abu Samra port, and 16% of the food imported for Qatar came through the land crossing with Saudi Arabia.

The Abu Samra port provides passport and visa services, and traffic services, and has many agencies related to food safety and the entry of goods and travelers. These agencies perform several tasks, including examining and issuing a permit for all agricultural, animal and fish consignments received or exported to the country.

Precautionary controls

The implementation of this decision was accompanied by the adoption of a number of regulatory and precautionary controls and procedures regarding the movement of exports and imports through the crossing, in line with the travel and return policy to and from the State of Qatar, in effect in light of the Coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic, in coordination with the Ministries of Public Health and Trade. And industry.

Drivers arriving at the crossing are required to obtain a Corona virus-free examination certificate issued by the health authorities in Saudi Arabia, and its validity period is not less than 72 hours before the date of entry to the Abu Samra border crossing.

Drivers and trucks transporting goods through the Abu Samra port will not be permitted to enter Qatar, provided that the goods are unloaded and re-loaded onto local trucks by the importer or his representative at the port, based on prior coordination with the port administration.

The procedures also include the signature of all arrivals on a formal commitment to abide by the hotel quarantine, while following the policy and conditions of quarantine, in addition to downloading the "precaution" application concerned with tracking the transmission chains of the Coronavirus.

Economic recovery

It is expected that the opening of the land borders will benefit both the Qatari and Saudi sides, pump blood again into the movement of trade, tourism and the movement of people between the two countries, reduce the burdens imposed on the movement of tankers and cars, reduce the cost of air import and shipping, and balance the prices of goods according to their natural levels.

It is likely that the movement of imports - through the Abu Samra crossing - will not affect the balance of the Qatari market, and continue to achieve self-sufficiency in a number of industries. A number of Qatari businessmen have expressed their welcome for the return of land trade exchange with the rest of the Gulf countries, as this contributes to diversifying Import and export outlets and stimulating the local market.

Ali Al-Khalaf (owner of a group of export and import companies) believes that the opening of the Abu Samra crossing to the movement of trade exchange boosts the growth of the Qatari economy, after it rose in the food security index and nationalized hundreds of projects and food industries that were imported from neighboring countries.

He told Al-Jazeera Net that Qatar has made huge investments in the infrastructure of the movement of trade with the Gulf countries and the world, and that it has major bets in this regard, and after achieving sufficiency in the local market of these industries, the bet is that these products will find great opportunities to enter the Gulf countries.

As an example, Qatar has shifted from a 90% importer of dairy products to achieving self-sufficiency and exporting to foreign markets, and there is an effort to achieve greater sufficiency in a number of other industries, especially the food industry.

Reciprocal growth

The trade exchange between Qatar and the Gulf Cooperation Council countries represented about 12% of the total volume of trade exchange of Doha with the countries of the world, and 84% of the volume of trade exchange with Arab countries, according to the figures of the Qatari Planning and Statistics Authority, where the trade exchange with the Gulf countries was recorded in 2016 (before The Gulf Crisis) a total of 37.9 billion riyals.

Doha also imported 19 billion Qatari riyals of Gulf goods, especially from Saudi Arabia and the UAE, whose exports to the country accounted for 83% of Qatar’s Gulf imports, while Qatar exported goods and goods to the Gulf states in 2016 that exceeded 19 billion riyals, which represented 9 % Of total Doha exports to the world.

This performance was reflected in the volume of trade exchange between the six Gulf states amounting to about $ 133 billion in 2017, while the value of trade exchange between the countries of the Cooperation Council with the world reached about $ 985 billion during the same year, according to the GCC Statistical Center.

The resumption of trade through "Abu Samra", the Gulf states, went beyond the return of imports from the Arab countries, as the Jordanian Minister of Transport, Marwan Al-Khaitan, revealed to local media about contacts he had made with Qatari officials for the return of land freight between the two countries, and granting Jordanian trucks and refrigerators visas to enter Qatari lands. .

In addition, there are Jordanian contacts with all Gulf countries in order to remove obstacles facing transport and movement, and to activate the land transport agreements signed with all countries.