RIYADH, 16 May 2007 — Saudi Arabian General Investment Authority (SAGIA) and Madinah Knowledge Economic City (MKEC) signed two separate agreements yesterday with Computing Technology Industry Association, (COMPTIA) — an international IT certification organization — to develop IT skills of both students and workers in the Kingdom.
SAGIA Deputy Governor and Head of Economic Cities Fahd Al-Rasheed and Tahir Mohammed Bawazir, chief executive officer of MKEC, signed the agreements with John Venator, president and chief executive officer of COMPTIA.
“With such an agreement, we hope to develop our human resources to enable them to cope with the changing scientific and technological advancements that are happening in various fields, Al-Rasheed told newsmen.
“We are harnessing the expertise of the global leaders in various sectors to create full-fledged economic cities that would serve as model for others,” he added, pointing out that SAGIA’s cooperation with COMPTIA is a clear indication of Kingdom’s interest to maintain world class standards in all its stages of development.
He noted that the development of the six economic cities which would generate a GDP of $150 billion by 2020, will create more than 1.3 million job opportunities. A sizable fraction of them would need IT skills to perform their jobs satisfactorily, he stressed.
“Madinah Knowledge Economic City was launched by Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah in June 2006 and is the fourth and most important of six economic cities announced by Amr Al-Dabbagh, governor of the Saudi Arabian General Investment Authority (SAGIA),” Bawazir said.
It will create 20,000 job opportunities and accommodation for 150,000 people at the completion of its first phase in four years time,” he predicted, indicating that the city is being developed on an area of 5 million square meters, and would attract investments worth SR25 billion from private and public sectors.
The city is designed as a project that will position the Kingdom and young Saudi entrepreneurs as internationally respected leaders in knowledge-based industries and also aims to attract IT workers from around the world, Bawazir said.
“It will provide them with opportunities on a global scale while providing investors and entrepreneurs with infrastructure, opportunity, a pool of talent and potentials for a lucrative return on investment.”
Venator explained that two of COMPTIA’s 12 programs will be implemented in Arabic to facilitate smooth learning by Saudi students and workers. “With the translated version of CompTIA A+ and network application into Arabic, we have opened the doors for many Arabs to start an education in IT”.