Saudi-Arabien Wirtschaftshandbuch Saudi Arabia Business ... - Ghorfa

Model king Abdullah economic city
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The industrial towns are also both centres for professional
further education and occupational training of the local
workers, a program that plays a key role in the Saudiasation
program.
SAGIA was commissioned by the government to erect
further industrial towns in Saudi Arabia as international
investment locations. Plans have already been drawn up
for four further economic centres. A new business and
residential town, the king Abdullah economic city, is
due to be erected on the red Sea near the industrial town
of Ragheb, north of Jeddah. The plans for this town are
nearest to completion. An investment sum of 26.6 billion
US$, which will primarily come from private investors,
will be required to erect the town. A key investor in this
project is a consortium of Saudi and Emirate companies
managed by the developer Emaar-Properties (VAE).
The new town will be built on an area covering 55 million
m 2 and stretch for 35 kilometres along the Red Sea coast.
A total of 500,000 jobs will be created at this new economic
location. The town planning concept comprises the
creation of six main sectors: a sea port, an industrial park,
a financial centre, residential areas, an education and research
complex as well as leisure and sports facilities.
The state-of-the-art sea port will match the standard of
leading ports across the world with regard to the capacity
of its handing equipment and technological standards
and also the connections to land, rail and air transportation
channels. Also it will become a service provider for
the Mecca and Medina pilgrims. In the planned industrial
park, small and medium-sized companies will be located
next to large companies. There will also be adequate
training and research facilities. The “financial island”
with its office space totalling around 500,000 m 2 will also
be created as an attractive location for regional and international
financial institutes and business tourism.
There are three residential areas planned for the new town
which are distinguished by a mixture of modern and traditional
architecture. The residential areas will also include
all the necessary supply facilities and modern medicinal
institutes. The training and research complex will house
universities, schools, research and development centres. A
variety of relaxation and leisure facilities, primarily located
on the coast, will complete the social infrastructure.
The government intends to use this new industrial town
to further promote Saudi Arabia as an international investment
location.
SAGIA is planning to invest 6.7 billion US$ to build
the knowledge economic city in Medina. The plan is
to establish this town as a research and knowledge centre
generating 20,000 jobs in the process and to set up an
adequate social infrastructure.
The Jazan economic city is planned about 725 kilometres
south of Jeddah on the Red Sea. This economic centre
will have a sea port, an industrial zone and a business centre
plus a variety of educational facilities. The main production
sites in the industrial zone will comprise an oil
refinery, a petrochemical complex, a steelworks, a copper
smeltery and an aluminium complex. The town will also
have its own power plant and desalination system.
Also, there are plans to erect the Prince Abdulaziz bin
musaid economic city in northern Hails named after the
first governor of this province. This economic city will
turn Hails into a logistics centre. Primarily, the natural
riches of the region, which has fairly extensive agricultural
companies and rich reserves of mineral resources, will
be developed. The plans include the construction of an
airport, a railway connection, a dry dock and a residential
and business quarter. Furthermore, the King laid the
foundation stone for a new university. The investments
will total 8 billion US$. In addition, the inner Arabian
tourism industry will profit from the plans to erect a large
nature reserve and a car racing track and also from the
ancient stone paintings.
By constructing these new economic centres, the Saudi government
has set itself the goal of securing stable economic
growth combined with the creation of new employment
opportunities and promoting industrial diversification.