JEDDAH, 24 November 2005 — The Abha Investment Forum, which ended its deliberations yesterday, called for the establishment of an advanced industrial city in the Asir region to house 1,000 industries.
The forum, which was opened on Tuesday by Asir Governor Prince Khaled Al-Faisal, also urged authorities to link the Asir region with the proposed east-west railway network. The forum wanted a team of experts to identify and promote investment opportunities in various economic sectors of the region.
“A number of new joint stock companies should be established to carry out investment projects in tourism, education, industry and mining,” the Saudi Press Agency said quoting the forum’s final communiqué.
In his opening speech, Prince Khaled called for the repatriation of Saudi funds invested abroad. “It’s time for the return of migrated national capital funds,” he said in an extempore speech.
The governor expressed his happiness over the growing strength of the economy. “We are pleased to read reports of increasing revenues and allocation of surplus budget for different welfare projects,” he said.
Prince Sultan ibn Salman, secretary-general of the Supreme Commission for Tourism, also addressed the opening session and noted Abha’s leading role in promoting the Kingdom’s tourism industry.
“Saudi Arabia has wide scope for tourism as it is replete with elements required for developing a first class tourism industry,” he added.
As many as 300 government officials, businessmen, academics and economists took part in the forum, which was aimed at promoting investment in the Asir region.
Officials and experts discussed 30 research papers on investment opportunities in tourism, mining, industry and agriculture.
Mujahed Al-Gain, deputy governor of Saudi Arabian General Investment Authority (SAGIA) for development of regions, presented a paper on the investment climate in the Asir region.
Fuhaid Al-Sharief, governor of Saline Water Conversion Corporation, made a presentation on government efforts to expand electricity and water services in the region.
Ali Hussein Al-Sharief spoke about the role of the Industrial Development Fund in boosting the Kingdom’s industrial sector. He said downstream industries contributed 11.3 percent of the non-oil gross domestic product (GDP) in 2004.
Dr. Abdullah Al-Obaid, deputy agriculture minister for research and development, said the government was planning to expand agricultural areas in the region from 220,700,000 in 1999 to 273,800,000 square meters in 2020. Most investments in the region are centered on agriculture and animal resources. According to statistics issued recently, there are 1.67 million people in the Asir region with Saudis constituting 85 percent.