Prince Salman Bin Abdul Aziz, Emir of Riyadh region inaugurated Sudair Industrial & Business City development project during a ceremony on Wednesday organized by Saudi Industrial Property Authority (Modon). The City is located 120 km north of Riyadh on an area of 264 million square meters and spread over 32 km long on Riyadh-Qassim highway. It is the largest industrial city developed by Modon, through which the North-South Railway line is passing and which will have a dry port to serve the city. The project includes the development of the first phase which has an area of 16 million square meters that would accommodate approximately 600 factories and create more than 70,000 jobs. The implementation of the first part of the First Phase has already been started on an area of 8 million square meters at a cost of up to SR900 million. The development project was tendered to be accomplished on three major projects. The first project includes the conduction of electricity and building transfer stations, the second project includes the main highways and bridges which links with Riyadh-Qassim highway while the third project which was tendered late in 2009 includes leveling works and road network, electric power distribution networks, flood water drainage networks and water drainage systems, among others. Prince Salman expressed his admiration for the project, which he described as the important strategic project and the strong supporter for the national economy and indicated that the project is a quantum leap in the establishment of the model cities. He said there are several reasons for the choice of specific site for the project: the site is surrounded on the west by Sudair City, on the north by Mujamm'a - which is the Governorate, on the east by Majzill Mountain and on the south by Khazzah Mountain. He added that the site, which was previously a desert, now produces industrial cities for the benefit of citizens and will provide career opportunities for citizens of the region as well as stimulate the commercial market and housing in the region. Prince Salman called on all provinces to establish colleges and universities and industrial areas. Dr. Tawfig Bin Fawzan Alrabiah, director general of Modon, said the Modon's projects are designed to meet the demands of investors and their needs for land and investment opportunities are ongoing in all cities including Sudair Industrial and Business City. The Minister of Commerce and Industry and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Modon Abdullah Bin Ahmed Zainal praised the accomplishments achieved by Modon during the brief period to support the National Industrial Strategy - which aims to support the development of the industrial base in the Kingdom and to raise the proportion of the income of the industrial sector in GDP to 20 percent during the next 13 years, which has reached 11 percent in 2009.
