Eastern Province Gov. Prince Saud bin Naif Wednesday opened Al-Ahsa Investment Forum 2013 at the local InterContinental Hotel.

Among those attending the ceremony were Prince Bader bin Mohammad bin Jalwi Al-Saud, Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources Ali Al-Naimi, Minister of Commerce and Industry Tawfiq Al-Rabiah, Minister of Housing Shwaish Al-Dwaihi as well as a large number of officials and corporate executives.

The opening ceremony kicked off with a tour of the exhibition as well as a video showing Al-Ahsa's potential as an investment destination.

Saleh Al-Afaliq, chairman of the Al-Ahsa Chamber of Commerce and Industry, stated that the forum’s objective is to highlight the Al-Ahsa’s infrastructure and other needs, and making it an attractive investment destination.

"Convincing businessmen to invest in Al-Ahsa is one of the biggest challenges facing us,” he added.

Al-Naimi pointed out that Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah’s vision of providing a balanced development of all the Kingdom’s cities is being vehemently pursued. He also mentioned some of the petroleum projects in Al-Ahsa where Alqawar is the world's biggest in terms of oil and gas. During the last ten years, he said, some of the projects that are in operation include Khurais, Alnaim, Alhawiya and Harad. New industrial cities are under way, which include Wad Alshamal and Jazan.

Alrabiah expressed his pleasure that Prince Saud laid the cornerstone for the industrial city in Al-Ahsa.

The housing minister spoke about the three housing projects in Al-Ahsa, which will be delivered to the people as and when they are ready for occupation.

Abdulatif Al-Othman of Saudi Arabian General Investment Authority (SAGIA), said the forum was the result of a successful partnership between the public and private sectors.