RIYADH, 19 April 2005 — In a pioneering move, the Kingdom’s first Integrated Technology Zone will be established in the Eastern Province setting the stage for the manufacture of high technology products in Saudi Arabia.
A spokesman of the newly established Saudi Organization for Industrial Estates and Technology Zones (SOIETZ) told Arab News that the first technology zone will come up in the Eastern Province on a site measuring more than 3.5 million sq. meters.
He said the Dammam Technology Zone (DTZ) is intended to cluster high-tech industries and knowledge-based enterprises that specialize in energy, environment, advanced petrochemicals and new materials. The project is expected to jump-start many technology zones in the Kingdom.
The spokesman said that once the master plan has been drawn up, SOIETZ will float tenders for the development and operation of the DTZ project to the private sector on the basis of build-operate-transfer (BOT). Allocation of sites will be done on the basis of bidding, for which the date of submitting tenders will be announced both in the local and international media.
SOIETZ is currently engaged in drawing up its master plan and also doing value engineering for the various projects. This will give them an idea of the kind of technology zones to be established.
Tenders will be invited only after these studies are completed.
Technology zones in the Kingdom are considered a new investment vehicle for local and foreign investors and will be the gateway from which the Kingdom could launch its high-tech industrialization program.
Asked about the features of the technology zones, he said they will offer advanced infrastructure and value-added services that are needed by high-tech industries and will be constructed on lands either belonging to SOIETZ or on privately owned lands after being licensed by it.
The spokesman said the development and operation of the DTZ will be on BOT basis. A distinctive feature of DTZ will be its zoning. Thus, industries related to IT, environment, energy and petrochemicals will be segmented in line with modern industrial management practices.
In this respect, the format seems to be similar to that of Dubailand, where high-tech industries in different fields have been zoned.
Saudi Arabia is an import market worth around $31 billion a year, which represents a great challenge and promising opportunity. Consumers with high disposable income characterize the Saudi market. In addition to its indigenous wealth and central location in the Middle East, the Kingdom is also strategically placed to take advantage of worldwide trading opportunities, particularly in Asia, Africa and Europe.
Given that almost three-quarters of the Kingdom’s population is under 30, it has become a prime market in the Middle East for a variety of consumer products and imported goods, media and educational materials, and services in the financial, health, IT, retail, leisure and property sectors. The establishment of DTZ would seem to herald a significant drive toward import substitution in the high-tech field.