Jeddah will implement 100 projects under 20-year plan

"This vision, which we call Jeddah 1450, is guided by certain principles," Dr Abudlgader Amir, vice-mayor for planning and urban development at the Jeddah Municipality, told a Saudi-French seminar on architecture and urban development held at the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry recently.

"Some of these projects could be executed with public-private partnerships and under build, operate and transfer (BOT) basis," Amir said.

JCCI Chairman Saleh Al Turki said that the private sector is changing its role in the ongoing economic boom and process of reform. He said that it is no longer dependent wholly on the government, and added that the ongoing privatisation programme has made it easier for non-Saudis to operate in the Kingdom.

Dr Yahya Hamza Koshak, board member of Council of Saudi Engineers, said that since the Kingdom had opened its doors to foreign investment, the council would extend all support to facilitate their operations.

French Ambassador Charles Henri d'Aragon said that the Kingdom's continuing second economic boom offers huge business opportunities to overseas businessmen. According to him, during the next 10 years, the Kingdom is estimated to need an investment of more than $450 billion in various projects in order to generate more jobs. "The King Abdullah Economic City and other new cities under development will attract multi-billion dollar investments," he said. He explained that some projects that would reshape the economic development include the Makkah-Madinah rail link, the land bridge railway project, airport expansion, new oil refineries, and chemical and petrochemical projects.