US$6.9bn 2 3
Te total investment required to build Knowledge Economic City (KEC) in Madinah, in western Saudi Arabia
IT IS HOPED KING ABDULLAH ECONOMIC CITY, COVERING SOME 168 SQUARE KILOMETRES, WILL GENERATE AT LEAST ONE MILLION JOBS AS WELL AS HOMES FOR TWO MILLION RESIDENTS
(SAR2.6 billion) is being spent on new countrywide university campuses while 10 new colleges opened in Q4, 2013.
BUILDING A LEGACY Saudi Arabia is also mindful of the need to establish a knowledge- based economy – a factor essential to attracting global meetings business. It is, therefore, developing a city – and an industry – dedicated to this cause, with the construction of the US$6.9 billion (SAR26 billion) Knowledge Economic City (KEC) in Al Madinah. The Saudi Arabian General Investment
Authority (SAGIA) has granted special economic status for this project in a bid to encourage foreign investment in what is being dubbed the “new economic gateway to Madinah”. KEC is a 4.8-million- square-metre zone located just five kilometres from the Sacred Mosque and connected with transport links to the holy shrine, as well as the airport and train station. The city will span commercial, residential, educational and hospitality projects in its quest to become a “knowledge industries hub and enabler”. Phase one of the development,
currently underway, includes residential neighbourhood Dar El Jawar; the Civic Centre and three museums; a souk complex; a visitors complex including commercial, leisure, healthcare and F&B components; residential apartments; and a mixed-use
20-floor hospitality tower spanning a hotel, serviced apartments, office space and multi-purpose conference facilities. KEC is one of several economic
cities, planned by Saudi Arabia, with foreign investment playing a key role in financing many of them. The kingdom’s economy was ranked most open in the world in
the 82nd
the 2013 Index of Economic Freedom published by the UK’s Heritage Foundation think tank. It comes eighth out of the 15 countries included in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, while the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) reveals direct investment inflow to Saudi totalled US$12.2 billion in 2012. The industrial output of KSA’s current
economic cities constitutes 90 percent of the kingdom’s non-oil exports with industries involved comprising petrochemicals, plastics, metal, construction materials and electrical appliance manufacturing, according to Middle East Economic Digest (MEED). Ras Al Khair Mineral Industrial City is
currently under construction and when complete, will comprise a fertiliser complex, aluminium smelter and conversion facilities and a sea port. The largest of the six new economic cities being built is the US$27 billion (SAR101.2 billion) logistics- focused King Abdullah Economic City (KAEC) on the Red Sea coast, which will
1 Te proposed new Hyatt Regency in Riyadh 2 Four Seasons Hotel Riyadh 3 Al Marwa Rayhaan by Rotana, Makkah
be linked by high-speed rail to the nearby cities of Jeddah, Madinah and Makkah. It is hoped KAEC, covering some
168 square kilometres, will generate at least one million jobs as well as homes for two million residents. It will span industrial, business and
financial districts, a waterfront resort area, education zone with schools, a university and residential zones as well as its signature project, King Abdullah Port (KAP), designed to rank among the top 10 global ports when completed, as part of Saudi’s quest to become a world transport and logistics hub. It will boast a container capacity exceeding 10 million TEU and a speciality Hajj terminal.
THE NUTS AND BOLTS An estimated US$100 billion (SAR375 billion) has been set aside to invest in these multi- modal facilities, as well as infrastructure upgrades covering ports, airports, road links and a number of massive rail developments over the next 10 years, according to SAGIA. In addition to the King Abdullah Port, new port facilities, terminals and enhancements are underway at locations including Jizan Economic City, the logistics park next to Yanbu Commercial Port and Jubail Commercial Port. In the aviation industry, significant upgrades are being executed at Madinah
17
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104 |
Page 105 |
Page 106 |
Page 107 |
Page 108