An enhanced website has been launched for King Abdullah Economic City (KAEC) offering a comprehensive source of information on all aspects of the 168 million square meter mega project. KAEC is being built on a prime location off the Red Sea to the north of Jeddah. The Saudi Arabian General Investment Authority (SAGIA) is the prime facilitator for the project. The website at www.kaec.net aims to provide an in-depth view on the current developments at KAEC and give some idea of how various aspects of the city will be taking shape in coming years.
The upgraded website has been created to be an informative access point for all stakeholders in KAEC including customers, current and potential investors, shareholders, suppliers, partners and policy makers. Key additions include an RSS feed and direct links to all departments of KAEC and the developer Emaar, The Economic City (Emaar EC), thus facilitating faster processing of enquiries and more streamlined interaction between visitors and the management team.
KAEC is the largest private sector project in the region, billed by Emaar EC as a “New Age City,” being built for tomorrow’s generation of Saudi citizens. The city has several components including a sea port, industrial district, educational zone, central business district, a financial island, resorts and residential area. The mega project is part of the Kingdom’s drive to expand the economy, create employment opportunities for its young population and function as a catalyst to attract foreign investment, global trade, commerce and industry. Based on initial forecasts, the project and its several components will create up to one million employment opportunities in the various industries and service-oriented companies that will open in KAEC. It will also be home to two million residents.
Emaar EC, established in September 2006, is a Saudi joint stock company managed by Emaar Properties PJSC, one of the world’s largest property developers, and a number of high profile investors from Saudi Arabia. Emaar EC has a share capital of SR8.5 billion consisting of 850 million shares, holding a nominal value SR10 each. Thirty percent of the equity, worth SR2.55 billion, was offered for public subscription. While the stock was oversubscribed at offering, for that past two months it has been trading below its IPO price.
However, Imad Hashem, acting executive director, Communications & Corporate Affairs, Emaar EC, advised, “In the past one year, KAEC has achieved tremendous progress – both in terms of the scale of development as well as investor response. Today, KAEC is recognized as one of the most promising investment destinations in the region, and we receive inquiries from all parts of the world.”
Hashem remarked that the enhanced website is built with rich graphics, making it easier to discover information about KAEC and also offering visitors better insights on the mega project. Visitors can take virtual tours of the various components of KAEC to gain a comprehensive overview. It is also possible to download reports and photographs about KAEC and there are even wallpapers available for those who would like to have a constant reminder of the project.
The upgraded website is nicely done and it is a good example of how regional businesses can create an effective global presence. One point to note though is that Emaar EC selected the generic .net domain for the website instead of choosing to promote the country code top level domain (ccTLD) of Saudi Arabia. Since the project bears the name of the Kingdom’s leader, the address www.kaec.com.sa would be more appropriate and would make more of an impact, than www.kaec.net.