JEDDAH, 21 April 2007 — Saudi-based Western Way for Industrial Development Co. (WWIDC) has signed agreements with Chinese companies to establish a large aluminum complex in the Jizan Economic City (JEC), south of the Kingdom, with a total investment of SR15 billion ($4 billion), it was announced yesterday.
China Nonferrous Metal Industry’s Foreign Engineering & Construction Company or NFC and China National Machinery Industry Corporation or Sinomach will build the complex with an annual capacity of 1.6 million tons of alumina and 700,000 tons of aluminum, the announcement said.
Amr Al-Dabbagh, governor of Saudi Arabian General Investment Authority (SAGIA), attended the signing ceremony in Beijing on Thursday, the Saudi Press Agency said. Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah laid the foundation stone of the JEC and its aluminum complex on Nov. 4, 2006.
A consortium led by WWIDC would develop the aluminum complex. Malaysian Power and Engineering firm MMC Corp. and Saudi construction giant the Binladin Group are other investors.
WWIDC will provide power and water supply for the complex, an official statement said, adding that the cost of the thermal plant would bring the total project cost to over $5 billion. The investment is among the largest ever made by China in the Gulf region, where cheap energy and ample cash from oil boom has increased investment in industrial projects.
Al-Dabbagh said SAGIA would continue its efforts to attract large-scale Chinese investment to the Kingdom, by introducing vital Saudi projects to Chinese companies and providing them with all incentives and facilities.
“Saudi Arabia has obtained first position among Arab countries last year in terms of providing the best business environment,” Al-Dabbagh said.
The SAGIA chief attended a workshop in Beijing attended by 200 Chinese businessmen when a presentation on investment projects in the JEC was made in Chinese. A number of pamphlets in Chinese language on investment prospects in Saudi Arabia were also distributed. The JEC would have one-shop center to extend various services to Chinese firms.
The aluminum complex is expected to create some 12,000 new jobs, the statement said.
All the alumina will be made from bauxite imported from Greece. “The complex will rank among the most cost-effective aluminum production facilities in the world, and will set a benchmark in the Kingdom as one of the first, large scale, non-oil related projects to be implemented in the country,” WWIDC Chairman Abdullah Basodan said.
