ON THE ROAD AGAIN
TBY talks to Khaled Bin Abdullah Al Hogail, CEO & Managing Director of the Saudi Public Transport Company (SAPTCO), on the importance of strong and rational regulations, knowledge transfers, and unifying public and private transportation networks.

BIOGRAPHY
Khaled Bin Abdullah Al Hogail is the CEO & Managing Director of SAPTCO. He has a degree in civil engineering. He is the Chairman of the Board of the Saudi French Public Transport Company (PTC), the Saudi Emirates Integrated Transport Company (SEITCO), and the International Association for Public Transport for the Middle East and North Africa. He is also the Vice Chairman of the International Association for Public Transport (UITP) and the Arab Union for Land Transport Board.How have the reforms being implemented impacted your business?
We are witnessing a big opportunity coming within Vision 2030 and are enthusiastic about it. Today, the challenge is to be prepared for the future and to invest. SAPTCO will be one of those that does. This is what drives us to restructure our organization to be more flexible and provide autonomy to our business units. In addition, the company is moving toward a customer-centric model to utilize its strong customer base. SAPTCO is optimistic about the future of the transportation sector in the Kingdom. A strong and independent regulator, the Public Transport Authority (PTA), was recently set up in our sector. As a large company we prefer an organized market. This is part of the reason we have restructured ourselves in order to focus on our lines of business.
How has your mandate expanded and diversified over the years?
SAPTCO was established in 1979, since when we have had one focus: linking the 382 cities and villages of this country within a single unified bus transportation network. Since 2008, we have spent 10 years building for the future to ensure more diversity, lines of business, and modes of transportation. In 2010, we established a luxury limo line of business, a cargo and logistics business, and the metro and railway. Today all these services are becoming integrated. We are now preparing to move into new areas. We are building new platforms with partners, setting up new companies, such as in education, where in partnership with Emirate Transport we established the Saudi Emirate Integrated Transportation Company (SEITCO) to serve the education sector. For three years our services have been used to transport 250,000 students all around the country. Another key piece of our strategy is the PTC Saudi-French Public Transport Company, which we formed with our French partner RATP. Together we won the contract to build the bus network for the King Abdulaziz project for Riyadh Public Transport, which will start operating in mid-2019. This is a massive network and is hugely important to the future of the city. We are also in the bidding process for operating and maintaining the Riyadh Metro, a completely new line of business for us. This is based on our partnership with the leader of driverless RATP.
Can you tell us about the deal you recently closed for 1,000 new buses?
Some of these new buses will be produced by Mercedes and some by MAN. This is the single-largest deal in history for Mercedes worldwide. Also, SAPTCO is one of the largest clients for Mercedes worldwide, which reflects the size and importance of the work we do. We operate more than 330 million km per year, which greatly reflects this story of why we are the largest Mercedes client worldwide to sign the largest single deal in its history. It also indicates how committed we are to quality. Mercedes make some of the best buses in the world.
What are your expectations for the next 12 months?
Development cannot take place properly in unorganized markets; it is impossible to deliver the quality people seek without rules and regulations, and a large company cannot make big investments while competing with small businesses or individuals with a completely different model. If we seek superior quality, the market must be organized. The establishment of PTA will definitely benefit us. Only those who pursue quality can exist in the market. For the next 12 months, our goals are to translate what we heard about the vision into reality. This next year should entail a great deal of work building the bridge from strategic to implementation. This is what we are working toward.

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Column
YB Pehin Dato Lim Jock Seng, Minister at the Prime Minister’s Office & Second Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Brunei
TBY talks to YB Pehin Dato Lim Jock Seng, Minister at the Prime Minister's Office & Second Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Brunei, on the sector.
read articleReview
A Crude Awakening
The Kingdom has made renewables a critical aspect of its ambitious Vision 2030 effort to diversify its economy and wean itself from a strictly carbon-based diet, not to mention empower local businesses and individuals to take up the mantle and lead the energy sector into the next generation.
read articleInterview
Abdulaziz AbdulKarim, Vice President of Procurement & Supply Chain Management (PSCM) , Saudi Aramco,
TBY talks to Abdulaziz AbdulKarim, Vice President of Procurement & Supply Chain Management (PSCM) at Saudi Aramco, on the IKTVA program, supporting local content, and looking back over a successful year.
read articleInterview
Ayman Abdullah Alfallaj, CEO, Thiqah
TBY talks to Ayman Abdullah Alfallaj, CEO of Thiqah, on how the private sector can keep pace with the speed of public reforms, delivering a strong and lasting value proposition, and integrating the fruits of privatization into the public sector.
read articleFocus: Technology Investments
Investment Calling
A technological revolution is underway in the Kingdom. Already one of the most tech-savvy nations in the Middle East, the Saudi market has long sought a thriving domestic technology and innovation scene. And with Vision 2030, it is on course to deliver just that.
read articleReview
A Hejaz Unhindered
An ambitious series of road and rail projects from the Jordanian border down to the Indian Ocean are slated to open in part before the end of 2017. They bring the Kingdom that much nearer to its goal of greater non-carbon-based economic integration with the world.
read articleInterview
Sulaiman bin Abdullah Al-Hamdan, Former Minister of Transport and Minister, Civil Service
TBY talks to Sulaiman bin Abdullah Al-Hamdan, Former Minister of Transport and current Minister of Civil Service, on an attractive legislative framework for investment, railway linkages, and port developments.
read articleInterview
Rumaih M. Al-Rumaih, President, Public Transport Authority (PTA
TBY talks to Rumaih M. Al-Rumaih, President of Public Transport Authority (PTA) & Acting President of Saudi Railway Organization, on teaming up with commercially committed partners, making sure the Kingdom's land and sea bridges are of the first order, and providing employment for all the Kingdom's inhabitants.
read articleInterview
Nabeel M. Al-Amudi, President, Saudi Ports Authority, and Minister of Transport
TBY talks to Nabeel M. Al-Amudi, Minister of Transport, and President of Saudi Ports Authority, on optimally restricting concession agreements, resolving bottlenecks in the logistics chain, and privatizing as rapidly as possible.
read articleInterview
Khaled Bin Abdullah Al Hogail, CEO & Managing Director , Saudi Public Transport Company (SAPTCO)
TBY talks to Khaled Bin Abdullah Al Hogail, CEO & Managing Director of the Saudi Public Transport Company (SAPTCO), on the importance of strong and rational regulations, knowledge transfers, and unifying public and private transportation networks.
read articleInterview
Imad El-Zein, CEO, Auto World-Sixt Saudi Arabia
TBY talks to Imad El-Zein, CEO of Auto World-Sixt Saudi Arabia, on growing market share in challenging circumstances, partnering with world-class players to boost its local presence, and combining better services with lower costs.
read articleInterview
Saleh H. Al-Ghamdi, Acting CEO, Saudi Air Navigation Services Company (SANS)
TBY talks to Saleh H. Al-Ghamdi, Acting CEO of Saudi Air Navigation Services Company (SANS), on maximizing safe and effective services, effectively increasing the rate of Saudization, and easing the pathway of women into the workforce.
read articleInterview
Khalil Kutubkhanah, CEO, Jeddah Development and Urban Regeneration Company (JDURC)
TBY talks to Ibrahim Khalil Kutubkhanah, CEO of Jeddah Development and Urban Regeneration Company (JDURC), on Jeddah's unplanned settlements, the company's redevelopment projects, and its partnership model with the private sector.
read articleInterview
Dr. Khalid Bin Mohammed Al Shaibani, Deputy Minister, Planning and Health & Director of the Vision Realization Office
TBY talks to Dr. Khalid Bin Mohammed Al Shaibani, Deputy Minister for Planning and Health & Director of the Vision Realization Office, on reforms within the Ministry of Health, the corporatization of healthcare provision, and transformations in care delivery.
read articleInterview
Mohanad A. Dahlan, CEO, University of Business and Technology (UBT) Company
TBY talks to Mohanad A. Dahlan, CEO of University of Business and Technology (UBT) Company, on the evolution of the company, education investments, and upcoming sectors that will need support from the sector.
read articleFocus: Universities
Broad and Deep
As part of the continuing decentralization of higher education in Saudi Arabia, individual universities are pursuing their own paths to grow their faculties, engage with various international stakeholders, and ultimately move toward a more privatized future.
read articleInterview
Rafique Izhiman, Area General Manager KSA Jeddah, Yanbu Hotels
TBY talks to Rafique Izhiman, Area General Manager KSA Jeddah/Yanbu Hotels & General Manager, Intercontinental Hotel Group (IHG), Jeddah, on the role the firm plays in the market, expanding its footprint in the country, and expectations for 2017.
read article