Prince Khaled Al-Faisal, emir of Makkah and adviser to Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, announced on Wednesday the beginning of the implementation phase of the ‘New Taif City' projects. These projects include Taif International Airport, Taif University, development of Souk Okaz, Oasis of Technology, residential township and industrial city. The emir also launched a number of development projects in the region. Prince Khaled, who is also chairman of the Supreme Committee for the Development of Taif region, made the announcement while chairing the meeting of the committee. He urged the businessmen and people of Taif to contribute in the development of Taif through making their investments. The meeting was also attended by Prince Turki Bin Saud Bin Muhammad, president of King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology, Minister of Municipal and Rural Affairs Abdullatief Al-Sheikh, Minister of Environment, Water and Agriculture Abdurahman Al-Fadli, Minister of Housing Majed Al-Huqail and several other senior officials. The ‘New Taif City' projects will be implemented on an area covering 1,250 sq. kilometers, located east of Taif city, with the capacity to accommodate 750,000 people, who represent 36 percent of the current population of Taif region. The facilities at the New City will also include central business zone, airport city, medical and tourism cities. All the centers, residential neighborhoods and mega projects will be linked with green belt zones on the basis of the principle of a "City within a garden." Construction work of the headquarters of Taif branch municipality, emirate center and police station are progressing well. Plots of land on a total area of 14 sq. kms have been allotted to the Ministry of Housing for building the residential township. It is expected that the Oasis of Technology can offer jobs for more than 500,000 citizens.
