JEDDAH, 16 December 2006 — A major forum on smart cities will be held in Riyadh today to highlight investment opportunities in the four economic cities that were launched by Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah in different parts of the Kingdom within a year. The four cities in Rabigh, Hail, Madinah and Jizan are expected to draw nearly SR300 billion ($80 billion) in investment.
The Saudi Arabian General Investment Authority (SAGIA), the main facilitator of the economic cities, is organizing the forum.
“SAGIA aims to establish not only economic cities but intends to coordinate with developers to establish smart cities that will contribute to building knowledge cities all over the Kingdom,” said Amr Al-Dabbagh, SAGIA governor. He said the economic cities would provide advanced infrastructure facilities to transfer data, establish contacts and extend services acquiring the best information technology available in the world.
“This forum, first of a series of similar forums, also aims at introducing investment opportunities in the economic cities and open a dialogue on developing economic cities, which is relatively a new experiment at international level,” said Fahd ibn Abdul Mohsen Al-Rasheed, deputy governor of SAGIA for economic cities.
According to Al-Rasheed, five factors were essential to ensure the success of any economic city: establishment on the competitive advantage; an advanced network of information technology infrastructure; provision of investment opportunities to national and foreign private sectors; establishment of lively cities not just industrial cities; and creating a business friendly atmosphere.
The Riyadh forum is sponsored by Rakisa Holdings, the lead developer of Prince Abdul Aziz bin Mousaed Economic City in Hail. Abdullah Ibrahim Al-Rakhis, chairman of Rakisa, emphasized the significance of the economic cities, saying they would increase job opportunities for Saudis, exploit special advantages of certain regions and achieve redistribution of population and infrastructure facilities.
Intel Chairman Craig Barrett, Mohammed Al-Suwayel, head of the Telecommunications and Information Technology Commission, and Rakhis will address the forum to be opened by Al-Dabbagh. Barrett will speak on “Expanding Horizons of Development in Digital Societies” while Rakhis will focus on developing infrastructure for the Hail economic city.
The Kingdom has made tremendous progress over the last few years in facilitating FDI flows, Al-Dabbagh said and disclosed plans to establish three more economic zones in key regions of the country over the next few years. The economic cities are aimed at developing the Kingdom’s regions in a high-tech fashion while easing mounting pressure off the major cities’ infrastructures.
The first economic city launched in December 2005 in Rabigh (the King Abdullah Economic City) focuses on promoting energy- and transportation-related industries, while the second economic city in Hail (the Prince AbdulAziz bin Mousaed Economic City) is designed around transportation and related logistical services.
The Knowledge Economic city in Madinah will include a technology and KBI zone; an advanced IT studies institute; an interactive museum on the life of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him); a center for Islamic civilization studies; a campus for medical research and biosciences; an integrated medical services zone; a retail zone; a business district; and residential zones including high rises.
The fourth economic city in the southern city of Jizan will have an industrial zone, a logistic service center, an energy cum desalt plant, a residential zone and a port.
