KT Exclusive: Suez crisis was a wake-up call for global supply chain, says DP World chairman

Dubai - International community must better prepare for any scenario that threatens global trade, Sultan bin Sulayem says.

The world’s priciest traffic jam in Egypt’s Suez Canal last month has highlighted existing vulnerabilities in global trade, a year after supply chains were disrupted by the coronavirus pandemic.

Sultan bin Sulayem, Chairman and CEO of DP World and one of Dubai’s most well-respected business figures says the international community must better prepare for any scenario that threatens global trade.

Khaleej Times sat down with Bin Sulayem to discuss about the company's strategy and how the crisis impacted the global supply chain, that serves as a wake-up call for companies that rely on existing shipping techniques.

The blockage of the vital artery that handles 14% of world trade cost the global economy $400 million an hour, nearly $9 billion a day. It showed how vulnerable the existing supply chain is, “who’s going to pay the losses?” asked Bin Sulayem.

The DP World chief, who is an expert when it comes to cargo and logistics handling is a solutions-driven leader known for thinking big.

He is one of the masterminds behind the Palm Jumeirah artificial islands and is personally credited with much of Dubai’s economic growth thanks to the introduction of free trade zones in the 1980s.

When asked about how the international community should better prepare for future disruptions, bin Sulayem doesn’t hesitate to propose changes to the landscape, even if they include digging an additional canal from the Red Sea.

Leading one of the largest port operators in the world, Bin Sulayem says there has never been an incident of this severity when it comes to global trade disruption.

“Everybody took it for granted that Suez Canal is open. Now, everybody that was importing something is delayed by a few weeks, and the delay is not going away. We are now dedicating our ports, whether it’s in Jeddah, or Sokhna in Egypt, or in Dubai, to deal with giving relief to the people who are stuck with the cargo.”

Anything that endangers global trade is a major concern to the Dubai businessman. Attacks on tankers like those experienced in recent months require joint global effort, he says, to protect maritime trade routes at all costs, says Bin Sulayem.

“Whether it’s piracy like in West Africa or whether attacks in the Gulf, this is something that needs not just UAE, but a world to stand united against it,” he said. “The [international community] has to use whatever they need to make sure the trade flows normally because it

will cost the world a lot, to have disruption.”

In a year where the global supply chain suffered a significant blow, Bin Sulayem says DP World’s overall portfolio performed better than expected. Profits dropped by less than five percent, and the container industry outperformed the gloomy pandemic predictions, illustrating the resilience of DP world as a global trade operator.

The company’s resilience however isn’t coincidental. Bin Sulayem led changes to the company’s business model by digitizing logistics, investing in technology, and expanding its global footprint to become an integral part of the entire supply chain.