JEDDAH, 7 June 2007 — Saudi Arabia’s new economic cities that are under development will benefit the national economy by SR562 billion and raise per capita income to SR123,000 by 2020, Fahd A. Al-Rasheed, deputy governor and head of economic cities at Saudi Arabian General Investment Authority (SAGIA), told a meeting here on Tuesday night.

“The new cities will create 1.3 million additional job opportunities by 2020” Al-Rasheed said in his presentation on new economic cities at a forum held with the support of Council of Saudi Chambers of Commerce and Industry and Bank Aljazira at the Jeddah Hilton.

He reviewed the role being played by SAGIA in creating a proper environment for attracting both domestic and overseas investments to economic cities and the various strategies adopted by the authority for the new projects.

“We have calculated the national economy’s benefits from the new economic cities after studying the successes and failures of such projects in various countries,” Al-Rasheed said, adding that the Kingdom has launched four new economic cities and will be formally opening two more such cities —in Tabuk and the Eastern Province soon.

The new economic cities are aimed at achieving development plans across the Kingdom through a balanced regional growth and economic diversification, and providing job opportunities coupled with transfer of technology and know-how.

“The new cities have been planned on certain vital considerations, which will spell their success. They will all have new industries of international standards. They will have the most modern infrastructure that will enhance the competitiveness of the national economy,” Al-Rasheed said. The main thrust will be to make the investment environment highly competitive and implement strategies for human resource development, he added.

Aluminum, steel, fertilizers and chemicals are among the areas in which the Kingdom can compete internationally in terms of investment, production and employment opportunities, he said.

According to him, the new cities will have the basic infrastructure for a total of 500,000 inhabitants with elaborate modern facilities.

Dr. Fahad Al-Eatany, an economic analyst, professor at King Abdul Aziz University, and an accredited Saudi expert at World Trade Organization, in his presentation, said “because of their (economic cities) integrated infrastructure and diversification of investment, and flexibility of administration, their development will be most comprehensive, especially in services, and their pace of industrial advancement will be more advanced than the industrial cities.”

He recommended that a separate authority be created for overseeing the progress of new economic cities like what had been done in the case of the industrial cities of Jubail and Yanbu.

Abdullah Shamsi, president of the organizing committee and executive president of the “Economic access program,” said the forum attended by 300 businessmen and businesswomen had served its purpose of spelling out the opportunities available for investors, job seekers and the private sector, which would spearhead the growth of the national economy. This meeting is being followed by a series of forums across the Kingdom including in Riyadh, Dammam and Abha.

Talat Z. Hafiz, deputy general manager of Baazeem Trading Co., moderated the discussion.