ABHA — Prince Turki Bin Talal, emir of Asir, announced on Sunday that several infrastructure development projects worth multibillion riyals are expected to complete in the near future. Addressing a press conference at the emirate's headquarters here, Prince Turki said the projects cover sectors such as health, transport, and municipal services. He said Crown Prince Muhammad Bin Salman, deputy premier and minister of defense, has issued directives to complete the infrastructure projects in a way meeting major requirements of the citizens in the region. "The projects include 1,000-bed King Faisal Medical City that consists of a specialized hospital, cardiac center, tumor center and a center for neurological sciences, in addition to specialty centers for children from Asir, Baha, Najran and Jazan regions. Prince Turki said the major transport projects in the region include construction of the Asir-Jazan Road, costing SR6 billion, and a SR4 billion project for the expansion of the Jeddah-Jazan Coastal Road, besides the Abha Airport development project. Health Minister Dr. Tawfiq Al-Rabiah, Acting Minister of Municipal and Rural Affairs Dr. Majid Al-Qasabi and Minister of Transport Dr. Nabil Bin Mohammed Al-Amoudi were present. "These projects represent an important step forward for the region's sons and daughters who have long been looking forward to them. The diversity of the projects represent the health, transportation and municipalities sectors within a large system of projects, not only in the region but at a Kingdom-wide level," said a statement issued earlier. Last November, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman toured the Kingdom with the Crown Prince and launched billions of dollars' worth of development projects across several cities. These include the King Salman Energy Park project (SPARK) located between Dammam and Al-Ahsa with investment in the first phase of the project expected to reach around $1.6 billion. The Crown Prince also launched last month mega tourism projects in the ancient desert city of Al-Ula. The projects are set to bring in a $32 billion increase in GDP, over two million visitors, and 38,000 jobs by 2035. The projects are part of Saudi Arabia's Vision 2030 and efforts to build an economy away from oil-dependence while expanding on tourism and untapped resources in the Kingdom's many regions.
