JEDDAH, 27 May 2008 — There has been a strong investor response to the first phase development of King Abdullah Economic City (KAEC) located on the Red Sea coast on 168 million sq. m. in Rabigh, north of Jeddah.
This came in for special mention at the second annual general meeting (AGM) hosted by Emaar, the Economic City (Emaar.E.C.), the Tadawul-listed company developing KAEC, on Sunday.
The meeting endorsed the progress of KAEC and approved the appointment of Fahd Al-Rasheed as its board member. According to the announcements made at the meeting, 800,000 sq. m. land has been leased out in KAEC’s Industrial Zone and the city’s first phase is on schedule.
The AGM endorsed the rapid progress in developing the various components of KAEC and congratulated the management for the strong investor response gained to the first phase launch.
The AGM approved the report on the company for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2007, as well as the financial reports and the report of accountants. The AGM approved the appointment of the auditors for the fiscal year 2008 and absolved the board of directors and auditors of any liability for the fiscal year.
“We thank our shareholders for their confidence in the on-schedule development of King Abdullah Economic City, one of the largest private sector-led projects in the region. KAEC is poised to usher in a new era of socioeconomic prosperity for the Kingdom in line with the vision of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah,” Abdullah Saleh Kamel, vice chairman, Emaar.E.C, said.
“The confidence of the shareholders further inspires us to develop KAEC as one of the world’s best investment destinations. The response to the launch of the first phase has been strong with investors from around the world leveraging on the growth opportunities offered by KAEC in several high-growth sectors including the Sea Port, Industrial Zone and Residential Communities,” he added.
“Year 2007 was a milestone for KAEC as the various components of the project were unveiled and Emaar.E.C signed several key partnerships, Al-Rasheed said.
In all, infrastructural and other work of 17 million sq. m. was undertaken and contracts worth over SR2 billion were awarded last year to various contractors for constructing residences, commercial buildings and other infrastructure work. More than 800,000 sq. m. has been leased out in the Industrial Zone and international investors are expected to bring in SR850 million to the Kingdom, Al-Rasheed added.
“Emaar.E.C is steered by qualified professionals with the workforce consisting of more than 64 percent Saudi nationals. Over 7,000 professionals and skilled workers are working on the construction of the project and the number is expected to increase to 10,000 within a year,” he added.
KAEC, with its six components including Central Business District, Educational Zone and Resort District, has the potential to create one million jobs and will be home to over two million residents. The project highlights the huge employment and investment potential of Saudi Arabia in line with the Kingdom’s vision to be one of the top 10 most competitive economies in the world by 2010.
