By: AGBI

DHL will invest €130 million ($150 million) to establish a regional logistics and distribution centre at the Special Integrated Logistics Zone in Riyadh.

DHL Supply Chain, the contract logistics division, has signed a land lease agreement with SILZ as part of the group’s €500 million investment across the Middle East through 2030.

The facility will occupy a 78,000 square metre plot, with a 26-year leasehold commitment.

The warehouse will cater to sectors including technology, retail and consumer, automotive, energy and e-commerce, offering tailored services for each.

Construction is scheduled to begin in the first quarter of 2026, with completion expected by the second quarter of 2027, DHL said in a statement.

“DHL will be our anchor tenant in logistics, making this facility their regional hub,” said Fadi Al-Buhairan, CEO of SILZ.

DHL operates in more than 220 countries and territories, employing 602,000 people globally. It generated €84.2 billion in revenue last year.

In October 2024 SILZ signed three agreements to develop “Riyadh Integrated”, Saudi Arabia’s first special logistics zone.

Transport and logistics minister, Saleh Al-Jasser, told a logistics forum in Riyadh last year that the national transport and logistics strategy launched in mid-2021 is to invest more than SAR1 trillion [$266 billion] by 2030, of which SAR200 billion has already been deployed.

One of Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 aims is to transform the kingdom’s aviation and logistics industry, increasing annual cargo capacity from around 1 million tonnes to 4.5 million tonnes by the end of this decade.

This month DHL announced plans to start construction of its first aircraft maintenance facility in the Middle East and North Africa at Bahrain International Airport in October next year.