JEDDAH: In the past three years, 12 industrial cities have been established in Saudi Arabia, increasing the number from 14 to 26 industrial cities. Since King Abdullah, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, acquired the reins of power, the Kingdom witnessed a boom in development at the level of industrial cities, the Saudi Industrial Property Authority (Modon) said in a statement Tuesday. For over 30 years before he took over the power, the number of industrial cities in the Kingdom was 14, supervised by Modon and two cities supervised by the Royal Commission for Jubail and Yanbu. "In light of directives of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques and his sharp vision to make the industry a strategic choice to diversify sources of income, the industrial cities have been doubled, both in terms of developed area and in terms of the number," Modon said. MODON witnessed expansion projects for Riyadh 2nd Industrial City, Dammam 2nd Industrial City, Madina industrial city, Ha'il Industrial City and Assir Industrial City. Modon did not stop at the expansion and rehabilitation of the existing cities, but also sought to establish new cities in different regions of the Kingdom. In 2010, industrial cities were established in Sudair, Taif, Zulfi, Baha, Riyadh 3rd in Alha'ir and city for pharmaceutical industries in Al-Uyaynah, Shaqraa' and Hafr Albatin. Whereas in 2009, Modon established four new cities, including Jeddah 2nd, Al-Kharj, Ar'ar and Jazan, it noted. Under the directives of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, moreover, Modon has also begun planning and designing new cities, where it has started designing and planning works for Dammam 3rd, Jeddah 3rd, Jeddah 4th, Salwa, Al-Ahsa 2nd, Qassim 2nd in addition to expansion of Sudair and Al-Kharj. Thus, the number of industrial cities overseen by Modon will reach 32 industrial cities. The area of the expansion and the new cities will add a total of 86 million square meters of developed land, the statement further said. The developed area in the industrial cities will reach 80 million square meters at the end of 2011 as against 40 million square meters before the reign of King Abdullah. The number of manufacturing factories also has doubled to 3,000 with investments amounting to more than SR250 billion, Modon said. The Eighth Development Plan, includes, among others, raising the standard of living, improving the quality of life, provision of job opportunities for citizens, development of human resource through continued development of education, training and acquisition of skills and expansion of applied and technical sciences. It also increases the contribution of the private sector in economic and social development by raising the participation of Saudi women in economic and developmental activities. Furthermore, the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques implemented steps which had positive impact on the industry, including: 1. Adoption of a national strategy for the industry, which aims to raise the industry proportion in the GDP from 11 percent in 2009 to 20 percent in 2020, a move toward diversified sources of economy and sustainable development. 2. The Kingdom's accession to the WTO. This, in turn, led to a change in the economic sphere in the Kingdom, which made it as the only country in the Middle East to become a member of G20. 3. Raising capital of Industrial Development Fund to SR30 billion. 4. Reducing gasoline price to 60 halalas instead of 90 halalas in order to improve the standard of living of the citizens. Modification of the price of a liter of gasoline octane 91 to 60 halalas instead of 82 halalas, and the price of a liter of gasoline octane 95 to 75 halalas instead of SR1.2.
