RIYADH — Eng. Mustafa Al-Mahdi, CEO of the Royal Commission for Jubail, said that the volume of investment requests in the industrial cities of Jubail and Ras Al-Khair is estimated at more than SR27 billion during the first quarter of 2020, the Saudi Press Agency reported. He also estimated the volume of investments in Jubail at SR755 billion out of more than SR1 trillion, which is the combined volume of investments of the Royal Commission for Jubail and Yanbu. The production capacity has exceeded 148 million tons of materials annually, he said while addressing a webinar. The Chamber of Commerce and Industry in the Eastern Region (Asharqiya) organized the webinar titled "Initiatives of the Royal Commission for Jubail to support the private sector." Al-Mahdi said the commission has launched seven initiatives to mitigate the effects of the coronavirus pandemic on investors in the industrial and commercial sectors. "The initiatives include amending the period of notices for conditional allocation for industrial investors to 24 months instead of 12 months. "In the event of extension of the period, the rental value will be calculated for an additional period. Another initiative is to extend the period of investment agreements that are in force or under renewal for an additional year with the same rental value without any increase." The Royal Commission CEO pointed out that the procedures for canceling investment agreements due to failure or default will be extended by giving investors an opportunity to postpone until the end of 2020, with the exception of investors who want to pull out of the agreement. There will be a suspension in halting of services for investors until the end of the first half of 2020. The new procedures also include suspending the financial compensation and fees to investors specified in the Royal Commission's regulations approved by its board of directors until the end of the first half of 2020. Moreover, the payment of monthly bills for the consumption of services to light industries will be extended until the end of the first half of 2020. Al-Mahdi said the workforce in the Jubail industrial city is estimated at 116,000 workers who live in 39,000 residential units in 11 residential neighborhoods. The number of workers in the industrial cities of Jubail and Ras Al-Khair is estimated at 93,273 workers, he added.
