Commerce and Industry Minister Tawfiq Al-Rabiah, Saleh Al-Rasheed, director general of the Saudi Industrial Property Authority (Modon), and other top officials attended the ceremony.
In his address, Prince Khaled commended Modon's efforts in developing land and infrastructure facilities for industrial cities across the Kingdom, especially in the Makkah province.
"Modon plays an important role in boosting the national economy and diversifying revenue sources," the governor said, adding that the new industrial city would create more job opportunities for Saudis.
Prince Khaled called upon businessmen and women to make use of the investment opportunities available in the city and carry out sustainable projects. "The state offers all investors infrastructure and financial facilities, and other attractive incentives," he pointed out.
He emphasized the need to improve the quality of Saudi industry to achieve world-class standard.
Al-Rabiah said he expected the third industrial city in Jeddah would attract about 900 industries. "We hope that most of them would be in the category of hi-tech industries," he added. Modon has spent about SR530 million on the development of the second industrial city in Jeddah.
"The authority intends to carry out a number of new projects in the city at a cost of SR272 million. He estimated the total area of the second industrial city in Jeddah at eight million square meters.
"We have allocated all industrial space in the city. What remains is the space for support projects," he added.
Speaking about the third city, Al-Rabiah said it would be spread on an area of 20 million square meters. "We have planned for the third city considering the growing demand for industrial areas," he said. Modon has signed contracts worth SR626 million to establish the third industrial city.
"There are some projects worth SR140 million for which tenders will be called shortly. These projects include construction of roads, provision of water and electricity and establishment of sewage systems.
The minister pointed that the Jeddah industrial city is placed in a strategic location, which is just 30 km away from south Jeddah and 70 km from Makkah. "It offers a lot of job opportunities for Saudi youths."
Al-Rabiah disclosed plans to establish a fourth industrial city in Asfan at a cost of SR50 million. It will cover five million square meters. "There will be another industrial city in Rabigh, the first phase of which will cover an area of three million square meters," he said, adding that it would cost SR30 million.
Al-Rabiah, who is chairman of Modon's board of directors, spoke about the authority's efforts to create a suitable atmosphere for industrial investment to realize the Kingdom's development goals.
He spelled out the incentives offered by the government to investors such as provision of land at nominal rates, customs tariff exemption for equipment and raw materials, subsidized electricity tariff, tax concessions, provision of finance up to 75 percent of the capital, and program to guarantee and finance exports and program to support Saudization of jobs.
Al-Rasheed gave a presentation on Modon's achievements over the past four years when the number of industrial cities in the Kingdom doubled from 14 to 28 with their total space expanding from 42 million square meters to 110 million square meters.
"We are working on expanding the total area of industrial cities further to reach 160 million square meters by 2015 and increasing the number of industries from 1,600 to over 3,000," he said. He estimated private sector investment on developing industrial cities and support services at SR2 billion.
Modon's role is based on specific principles of benefiting the most from the partnership between the public and the private sectors.
"Modon has invested about SR2 billion to establish industrial cities in the Makkah province," said Abdul Elah bin Musheet, director of the authority in the Western region. The amount was spent on developing the cities as well as establishing electricity power plants and water and housing facilities there.
Musheet said Modon is currently developing 33 million square meters of land in Jeddah, including eight million square meters for the second industrial city, 20 million square meters for the third industrial city and five million square meters for the fourth one.
"There are 546 industries in Jeddah including 505 that have reached production stage," Musheet said, adding that SR30 billion have been invested in Jeddah industries that employ more than 80,000 workers. Among these industries, 14 are joint ventures, 20 of them set up by international companies.
Due to rapid local and global changes and increasing infrastructural needs in the varying fields of industry within the Kingdom, there is now a necessary role for the private sector in the development, management and execution of industrial services and general infrastructure. This role is important in creating a healthy competitive environment, which prepares the Kingdom for privatization and opens its doors to global markets and investors.