JEDDAH, 30 November 2005 — Saudi Arabian General Investment Authority (SAGIA) has started surveying the Kingdom’s 13 regions in order to establish new investment projects, says its Governor Amr Al-Dabbagh.
Addressing the Tabuk Regional Council, Al-Dabbagh outlined his organization’s efforts to improve the Kingdom’s investment climate and attract more foreign direct investment.
While meeting with Al-Dabbagh, Tabuk Governor Prince Fahd ibn Sultan noted Tabuk’s strategic importance and disclosed plans to establish a landbridge, linking Africa with Asia. The governor was apparently referring to the causeway across the Red Sea linking Dhuba port with the Egyptian resort of Sharm El-Sheikh.
In a previous statement, Egyptian Transport Minister Essam Sharaf said the implementation of the project would depend on the result of the ongoing feasibility studies.
The causeway, which is estimated to cost $3 billion, will facilitate the transportation of pilgrims, tourists and commodities.
Prince Fahd talked about the project yesterday while meeting with Al-Dabbagh and senior SAGIA officials.
Prince Fahd stressed the importance of setting up a special council in Tabuk to promote investments in the region. He also disclosed plans to establish a major tourism project in Tabuk. He said Saudi Arabian Airlines would increase its flights to Tabuk from other parts of the Kingdom as a result of Tabuk’s nearness to other countries and growing investment opportunities in the region.
In his keynote address to the Tabuk regional council, Al-Dabbagh explained SAGIA’s six main roles: Providing comprehensive services to all investors; promoting and marketing investment opportunities in the Kingdom; developing a new generation of investors; managing investment climate; and developing the Kingdom’s regions. “We also focus on the development of three main sectors: Energy, transport and knowledge-based industry,” he said about the sixth role.
SAGIA has recently started an aggressive policy to attract foreign funds, providing incentives and tax breaks for investors and removing hurdles facing them, he said. The authority concluded 17 agreements with various government departments aimed at knocking down hurdles to local and foreign investment. The Kingdom received a record $17.3 billion in foreign investments in the first half of this year, a 17-fold increase over the same period last year, he said.
