TURAIF — The King Abdullah Project for the Development of Waad Alshamal City in the Northern Border Region got a major boost on Tuesday, with the awarding of several mega construction and infrastructure projects and setting up of investment projects worth a total of SR36 billion. The contract signing ceremony was held under the aegis of Prince Abdullah Bin Abdulaziz Bin Mosaed, Emir of the region. The awarded projects included construction of a number of factories, 1,000 megawatts power plant, a main road and other projects. The contracts also covered projects for linking the city of Waad Alshamal with Saudi ports along the Arabian Gulf, as well as raw material supplies and sanitary water treatment. The contracts included an agreement on a feasibility study of constructing a factory for solar panels and a training center. Minister of Finance Dr. Ibrahim Al-Assaf, Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources Ali Al-Naimi, Minister of Water and Electricity Abdullah Alhussayen, Minister of Transport Jubarah Al-Suraysiri, Prince Saud bin Abdullah Bin Thunayan, Chairman of the Royal Commission for Jubail and Yanbu, and several other senior officials and top company executives also attended the signing ceremony. Speaking on the occasion, Prince Abdullah said that the King Abdullah Project will give abundant investment opportunities for Saudi contractors and open up a large number of jobs for Saudi youths. Al-Naimi highlighted the efforts to diversify sources of national income, saying that the expected investment in factories and infrastructure signed at the city would reach SR36 billion. The Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources and Saudi Arabian Mining Company (Maaden) are implementing the projects in cooperation with a number of government agencies and leading Saudi and international companies. Maaden signed the contract for building a sulphuric acid plant and a power generation facility, valued at SR 2,865 million ($764 million) with SNC-Lavalin International Inc. & Sinopec Engineering (Group) Co. Ltd. SNC-Lavalin Arabia LLC (SLA) & Sinopec E&C Middle East Co.Ltd will implement the project. The sulphuric acid plant, consisting of three sulphuric acid lines, will have a production capacity of 4.9 million tons. The contract includes detailed engineering, procurement, and construction, and will take 35 months, starting from the date of the award, with completion expected in the fourth quarter of 2016. Maaden also signed the contract for building a phosphoric acid plant worth SR3,506 million ($935 million) to Hanwha Engineering & Construction Co. Ltd & Hanwha Saudi Contracting Co. Ltd. The phosphoric acid plant which will consist of three phosphoric acid lines when completed will have a production capacity of 1.5 million tons.
