Saudi Arabia

60 eco-factories to be set up in Jeddah

Jeddah: leading the industrialisation in Saudi Arabia

The Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry (JCCI) has launched an initiative to set up 60 eco-factories in Saudi Arabia’s leading industrual city – Jeddah.

Under the scheme which will be launched in cooperation with the Saudi Authority for Industrial Cities and Technology Zones (Modon), and Jeddah municipality, up to 60 new factories each employing 30 workers are to be set up on the outskirts of Jeddah as part of a major new job-creation initiative.

The plan to establish the environment-friendly manufacturing plants in 30 districts of Jeddah, was announced by JCCI official Ibrahim Batterjee.

 Al-Turki: ambitious plans

Al-Turki: ambitious plans

The project aims to open two eco-factories in each of the districts producing products such as fabrics, jewelry, perfumes and food. Batterjee, head of the JCCI’s industrial committee, said the move was designed to reduce pressure on industrial cities and provide jobs that were easy to access for women.

The initiative was announced during the JCCI’s 75th anniversary celebrations in Jeddah, recently. The project aims to open two eco-factories in each of the districts producing products such as fabrics, jewelry, perfume and food.

 

MODON’S PLANS

Also, Modon has signed an industrial land lease covering more than 62,000 sq m in the city of Madinah, to build a pharmaceutical complex including research and development centres, with a total investment reaching $152 million.

Modon’s director general Khalid bin Mohammed Al-Salem said that the signing of the contract was the result of joint work with the National Program for the Development of Industrial Compounds. Modon provided various facilities and incentives to support the investment, with the project set to provide nearly 1000 jobs for both genders with a localisation rate exceeding 50 per cent.

He added that the project is in line with the goals of the National Industrial and Logistics Development Program (NIDLP) to localise the most advanced industries in the world, in accordance with Saudi Vision 2030 for economic diversification.

Since its inception in 2001, Modon has been developing integrated industrial lands in accordance with the highest international standards. It currently oversees 35 industrial cities under development in various regions of the kingdom . The developed industrial lands exceeded until today 198.8 million sq m, while the existing industrial cities include 3,474 productive factories.

Meanwhile, Jeddah is planning to establish projects worth SR4.6 billion ($1.2 billion) to improve quality of life, Mayor Saleh Al-Turki said at the recently held Makkah Region Economic Forum.

The new investments will build on projects worth SR2.7 billion currently underway, he added.

New criteria for selection of projects reclassifies contractors based on the principle of efficiency, eliminating those that are not equipped to carry out such projects, Al-Turki said.

The municipality has put in place several indicators to improve quality of life, and it is important to ensure that projects are set up based on these indicators.

There are around 60 unplanned neighbourhoods, many of which need to be removed to create better living conditions in the city, the Mayor said.

“Today, we have about 40 distinguished projects in the accommodation sector along with most of the five-star hotels. Five more projects are being considered. In addition, we also have three tunnels under construction in Jeddah and two tunnels under study,” he added.

Work is underway with the Public Transport Authority to establish parking locations outside the city in five equipped sites, he said.

Meanwhile, Jeddah Municipality and the National Entrepreneurship Initiative signed an agreement that includes investment, development and governance.

The memorandum of understanding was signed by Al-Turki, Secretary of the Municipality of Jeddah, and Abdulrahman Abdullah Al-Alam, CEO of the Initiative. The terms of the agreement focused on investment, community development, planning and urban development, as well as governance and informatics.

The initiative is considered to be an important tool for building bridges of cooperation between the government and the private sector, within the economic aspects of Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030.