DAMMAM: The Eastern Province is buzzing with excitement over the arrival of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah. This is the first visit to the province by the king since May 2008 when he traveled to Dhahran to mark Saudi Aramco’s 75th anniversary.
All major streets and thoroughfares have been decorated with huge billboards of the king, creating a festive atmosphere that is augmented by Saudi public schools being closed for vacation. Hotel lobbies are buzzing with activity in Jubail, Alkhobar and Dammam. All five-star hotels in Alkhobar and Dammam are fully booked for the three-night duration of the king’s visit. “We have 100 percent occupancy. There are no vacant rooms at the moment,” said Irfan Khan of Sheraton Dammam.
On arrival at King Abdul Aziz Airbase in Dhahran, King Abdullah was received by Second Deputy Premier and Minister of Interior Prince Naif, Eastern Province Gov. Prince Mohammed bin Fahd, other senior princes and top officials.
King Abdullah is accompanied by senior Cabinet members including Foreign Minister Prince Saud Al-Faisal, Education Minister Prince Faisal bin Abdullah, Labor Minister Ghazi Al-Gosaibi and Culture and Information Minister Abdul Aziz Khoja.
Local newspapers have taken out special supplements to mark the king’s arrival. “This is a special occasion and the media is out to highlight it in every way,” said Misfer Saeed, a newspaper columnist. “Also, don’t forget this is the people’s king so the adulation is certainly not out of place.”
“The king’s popularity is at a peak thanks to the reform process he has initiated,” said Muneera Al-Qahtani of Saudi Aramco. She noted she was not too happy with the pace of reform but was confident the king was leading the country on the right course.
“We know where we need to go, and we are heading in that direction,” Al-Qahtani said, noting that the visit holds great promise for all sectors of society but especially for the business community.
Economic researcher Abdullah Al-Alami said the world would be pleasantly surprised by the king’s opening of huge development projects in the Kingdom’s Eastern Province.
“The whole world is going through a financial meltdown, and the fact that King Abdullah is here to open multibillion-dollar projects at this point will have huge significance,” Al-Alami said. “This indicates that the Saudi economy is in robust shape, and the downturn has had little or no effect on our development strategy.”
Al-Alami said he was impressed by the king’s careful, methodical approach. “These economic reforms are parallel with the social reforms he has initiated, more freedom of speech and a more open media environment,” he said.
“He first made changes in the Cabinet by bringing in people who share his vision. He has restructured the Shoura Council and has allocated more resources to chambers of commerce and to educational institutions,” Al-Alami added.
“The visit will lead to many job opportunities for young Saudis,” said top advertising executive Waleed Al-Bassam. “It is not often that the king visits the Eastern Province. He is in Riyadh because it is the capital and Jeddah because it is the gateway to the Two Holy Mosques, so when he visits the Eastern Province there is a special sense of pride and belonging,” he said. “The business community is ecstatic,” he added.
King Abdullah is scheduled to launch a number of industrial and welfare projects worth SR54 billion in Jubail during the visit. New projects include a water and electricity plant being established by Marafiq at a cost of SR12 billion.
Other projects are at the second industrial city in Jubail, which is designed to accommodate 20 huge industrial complexes with a total investment of SR232 billion and produce 70 million metric tons of petrochemicals annually.
