King Abdullah Bin Abdul Aziz, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, is scheduled to launch a huge package of investment projects worth SR130b during his inspection tour of the ongoing construction work at King Abdullah Economic City in Rabigh (KAEC) Wednesday. The City is being built to accommodate up to two million residents and support a million jobs when completed on a 168 sq km site at Rabigh north of Jeddah. During his visit, the King will lay the foundation stone of the Cadre Training City to be built on a 1m sq m. area as the City has been planned to serve as a major hub for training citizens on the job. Amr Abdullah Al-Dabagh, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Saudi Arabian General Investment Authority (SAGIA) said that the constant efforts led by the government “aim to secure a healthy investment environment in all the Kingdom's regions.” KAEC will cost an eventual $80b, the largest private sector development in the region. It is being developed by Dubai developer Emaar in association with SAGIA. Al-Dabagh said the King's visit would come to crown his ongoing support to engage local and foreign investments to attain the Kingdom's development plans. He has reiterated in a statement to the official Saudi Press Agency SPA that work has been under way at the first of Saudi Arabia's six new economic cities at Rabigh, Madina, Hail, Tabuk, Jizan, Ras Az Zour designed to accelerate major regional development. The projects are supervised by SAGAIA along with the developer Emaar Company. Al-Dabagh said that King Abdullah would inaugurate a number of vital infrastructure projects in Rabigh including the new seaport and main transportation network. Projects of multinational companies such as the Plastic Valley would be inaugurated as well. The six mega cities have been fully financed by the private sector, he said. King Abdullah would also break ground for knowledge-based industries, the Smart City, Medical Care City, Technical Center of King Abdul Aziz City for Science and Technology (KAACST) and Life Sciences Complex, he said. Alongside the ecology of economy, the King has stressed on the protection of the ecology of nature, he said. Comprehensive environmental studies have been conducted so as to improve public health and protect natural habitats and the maintenance of viable populations of species in natural surroundings of the cities. With that need of protecting ecosystems, King Abdullah would also lay the foundation stone of the environment protection center in the City.
