JEDDAH, 21 March 2006 — Saudi Arabian General Investment Authority (SAGIA) is presently conducting a comprehensive survey of some 400 new investment opportunities across the Kingdom, it was announced yesterday.
Walid ibn Saleh Al-Yahya, director of the marketing section at the organization, said the survey is being conducted with the cooperation of government departments and regional governorates. “The investment opportunities are in various sectors,” Al-Yahya said, adding that SAGIA would exert greater efforts to market them to attract more Saudi and foreign investment.
“We have set out a plan to complete the survey and classification of investment projects before the end of this year,” the Saudi Press Agency quoted him as saying.
The government is already seeking investment worth SR2.34 trillion ($624 billion) in key sectors such as petrochemicals, natural gas, tourism, desalination, power generation and railways.
According to Omar Bahlaiwa, secretary general of the foreign trade development committee at the Council of Saudi Chambers of Commerce and Industry, infrastructure projects offer the largest investment opportunity of $140 billion.
The petrochemicals sector comes second with $92 billion projects followed by electricity and water $88.9 billion, telecommunications $60 billion, tourism $53.3 billion, natural gas $50 billion, agriculture $28.3 billion and information technology $10.7 billion.
The King Abdullah Economic City (KAEC) in Rabigh, which was launched by Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah in December last year, is designed to accommodate investment projects worth SR100 billion.
A feasibility study is being done on establishing two more economic cities — one in Jeddah and the other in the Eastern Province, according to Muhammad Alabbar, chairman of Emaar Properties.
According to SAGIA Governor Amr Al-Dabbagh, foreign investments in the Kingdom registered a 30-fold increase last year as compared to the previous year. He said overseas investments in 2005 totaled SR200 billion. Referring to KAEC, he said the city provided a wide range of opportunities for investors. “SAGIA has already launched a $500 million energy fund for setting up power generation plants in the economic city,” he said.