R E G I O N A L FOCUS GWC Logistics in Qatar was chosen as a partner for the 2022 FIFA Men s World Cup Rasheed Ali, Managing Director of Moving and Relocations for Four Winds KSA The whole scenario has changed, says Rasheed Ali, Managing Director of Moving and Relocations for Four Winds KSA. By 2030, Saudi Arabia wants to become one of the best tourism destinations in the world. Its exploring all sorts of areas mountain tourism, ocean tourism, and there are sporting events such as boxing and the Formula 1 Grand Prix. Its a big cultural shift. Creating all this requires infrastructure and that means moving people and sorting out the logistics: very much Four Winds territory. Alis firm has been busy transferring expat labour in and out of Saudi Arabia, especially from India and Pakistan not only household goods, but doing home and school searches, says Ali. A change of mindset Four Winds, in business for 44 years of which Ali has worked 32 has also gained a bigger share of the logistics business, its scope extending to exhibitions and art moves. Although theres a seemingly bottomless pool of foreign labour (Four Winds uses recruitment agencies from as far afield as the UK and Philippines), Saudis nationalisation policy dictates quotas for certain industries; the IT and communications sectors, for example, must use a minimum of 20-25 per cent local labour in their workforce. We subcontract certain jobs, such as drivers and other blue-collar posts, Ali says. The economy is being driven by a change of government mindset. Start-up businesses are being encouraged. With new regulations were getting With new regulations were getting dynamic expansion. Changes are happening very fast almost every other day dynamic expansion. Changes are happening very fast almost every other day, says Ali. This is true for other Gulf states, though few have buzzed quite like Qatar, where GWC Logistics has enjoyed a meteoric rise in business fortunes. Its ascent began by filling the gaps it spotted in the sector and developed a momentum that saw it chosen by FIFA as a partner for the men s 2022 World Cup. Alongside involvement in oil and gas moves, GWC was the first logistics company to obtain a licence to store dangerous goods. That was in 2010, and was followed in 2016 by it becoming the first to be licenced for distribution of pharmaceuticals, as a third party, from its warehouse. By then GWC was laying the groundwork for the World Cup, building up capability for international sporting events boxing, cycling, equestrian and, in 2019, being chosen by FIFA as its partner for the Club World Cup championship. The firm now has 4,000 employees, 1,600 vehicles and ever-increasing warehouse capacity. Qatar is eyeing up landing the Olympic Games, but GWCs expansion is about more than blue-chip sporting jamborees, focusing not least on expanding warehousing and 48 FF311 Sept-Nov 23 pp46-55 Regional Focus.indd 48 11/09/2023 15:59