attractions REGIONAL HIGHLIGHTS Jubail and Yanbu
Te cities may be hundreds of kilometres apart, but they were both part of an ambitious development plan in the 1970s to exploit the kingdom’s oil wealth
Situated on either side of the Arabian Peninsula, the port cities of Jubail and Yanbu underpin the Saudi oil industry by providing vital outlets to the sea for its petroleum resources and downstream products. In the 1960s, as the sheer
scale of Saudi’s oil wealth was fi rst understood, the need for processing refi neries and ports for shipping were outlined. A masterplan was drawn up that created industrial zones on both the Red Sea and the Arabian Gulf. Yanbu was selected as the site of the former, Jubail the latter. The task of developing these two
cities to cater to the requirements of the petrochemicals industry was given to the Royal Commission for Jubail and Yanbu, which was set up in September 1975. The directorate general of each city operates directly under King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud and has a mandate that stretches from ensuring water supply, transport and all other civic amenities, to partnerships with investors and stakeholders, safety and security, managing employees and community relations. Built at a total cost of US$22.3 billion (SAR84 billion), the two cities have created more than 110,000 jobs and brought in additional industrial investment of US$65 billion (SAR244 billion) since the setting up of the Royal Commission 39 years ago. Once completed, sizeable
petrochemical complexes and other downstream industries soon developed in both cities, helped by investor-friendly state policies that transformed the two sleepy fi shing enclaves into boom towns.
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JUBAIL Jubail’s history goes back to ancient times when it was settled by the Dilmum tribe. The settlement was a major caravan junction then and part of a great trading empire whose capital now lies in modern-day Bahrain. Jubail was the centre of that empire’s eastern areas some 4,000 years ago and was renowned for its thriving pearl industry. Jubail was a small fi shing village
in September 1933 when the fi rst team of geologists arrived there in search of oil. At that time, the riches that lay around the village in the depths of the earth could scarcely have been imagined, nor the way they would transform the area. After oil was found, the still small fi shing village derived the fullest advantage from both
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its natural wealth and its strategic location on the Arabian Gulf coast and, by the mid-1970s, it had become an important port and the site for the world’s largest petrochemical complex. Modern Jubail is considered the largest industrial project in the world. Jubail city is divided into fi ve
zones, which include the old town and the industrial zone where all the main factories are situated. These include ancillary installations that produce steel, aluminium, plastic and fertilisers. The residential area is made up of eight localities built on an adjacent island linked to the mainland with modern housing. Another zone is Al Batwah Island, a dedicated leisure area that has a picnic zone with a park and zoo along with fi shing sites and a marina.
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