Saying no to the shortcut

“We could have paid for ‘expedited services’ but we decided no, we’re playing it straight,” adding this meant keeping true to the region’s transparency and anticorruption ‘Pearl Initiative’.

“It actually delayed the projects by six months; however, now it’s up and running I’d say it’s been worth it.

“The way people view us is very different from if we’d taken the ‘easy’ path,” he says, adding that trust is a necessary ingredient. “Talks around Jeddah and Jubail went round in circles for a while. We wanted management control but the authorities were hesitant.” He understands the reluctance: “After all, handing over a terminal is like handing over the keys to your front door – but we’ve shown we are up to it.”