DAMMAM, 8 July 2003 — A Japanese firm has agreed to turn a patch of desert in Saudi Arabia into a forest to help the environment and generate fresh water. The project will cost $84 million and the government will also participate. China and some European countries have also expressed an interest.
Japan’s Mitsubishi Heavy Industries will start drawing up plans to create a green belt of about 50 sq. km. before next March, according to Saudi Commerce and Economic Review. But the magazine quoted a Mitsubishi official as saying that the construction of facilities to green the sandy landscape around the Red Sea coast will not start until 2006.
The official said that the area was chosen because the climate in the region was humid, which would accelerate the greening effect. “This is a research project and should lead to developing new technologies and new products,” company spokesman Chris Gramshe said.
