Jabal Omar Development Company (JODC) has announced the signing of a memorandum of understanding with the Ministry of Housing's Building Technology Stimulus Initiative under the aegis of the Minister of Housing Majed Bin Abdullah Al Hogail. The memorandum aims to work on developing innovative building technologies for economic development, in addition to localizing the industrial sector and increasing local content in line with the National Housing Strategy, which aims to develop and build sustainable residential units to close the gap between supply and demand in the Saudi housing market. The announcement of the memorandum coincided with the opening of the WAFIEX Exhibition held recently at the Jeddah Hilton Hotel. Jabal Omar Development Company, which is a diamond sponsor, was recognized during the opening ceremony for supporting this important event as well as the ministry's efforts to enhance the residential real estate sector and raise the standards of housing development in the Kingdom. Jabal Omar Development Company CEO Yasser Al-Sharif explained that the collaboration with the Building Technology Stimulus Initiative comes within the framework of supporting the realization of the objectives of Vision 2030 in regards to improving standards and promoting innovation in the Saudi building and construction sector, in addition to enhancing investments in human capital in order to implement the outputs of these technologies. "Through this new memorandum, we will work on harnessing the expertise of the company and its in-depth knowledge of the construction and development sector to work with the initiative's team on developing innovative building technologies that can lessen the time taken to build residential units in order to raise the annual building rate and increase the quality of residential structures and final works," Al-Sharif said. The Building Technology Stimulus Initiative is part of the Private Sector Stimulus Plan, which represents both the Housing Program and the National Industrial Development and Logistics Program. The latter seeks to develop state-of-the-art technological innovations by attracting talents to this field and to localize these technologies and roll them out in the Saudi market in order to achieve the desired objectives of empowering the industry of the construction and building sector. Jabal Omar Development Company has a distinct role in contributing to the enrichment of the real estate landscape in Makkah through the development of the Jabal Omar Project overlooking the Haram Al Sharif. The mixed-use project includes 40 hotel and residential towers with commercial markets, luxury residential units, and hotels. — SG
