Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, April 14, 2007: Emaar, The Economic City (Emaar.E.C), a Tadawul-listed company, has announced that work on King Abdullah Economic City (KAEC) is advancing as per schedule with construction ongoing on several key components.
“As the first and largest Economic City in the Kingdom, KAEC sets the trend by creating a vibrant, mixed-use development that creates jobs in Saudi Arabia,” said Nidal Jamjoom, Chief Executive Officer, Emaar.E.C. “We have gained strong investor response to the Industrial Zone, which was launched earlier. To date, we have received investor interest for over 6 million square meters of Industrial land. Several retailers have also expressed registered interest in investing in the first mall within KAEC. The progress on the project is a reiteration of our commitment to the investors and our shareholders.”
On the development and construction side, the company has conducted more than 45 studies for the designing of the buildings, facilities and infrastructure in addition to environmental and traffic impact studies and power and water needs.
Currently, work is underway to build 1,040 apartments in the Red Sea Village, a Residential Community that will offer high standards for living and work. The Red Sea Village canal is nearing completion and tenders are being finalized for the Industrial Park infrastructure.
The Presentation Centre and a 15 km access road have been completed earlier this year. Model apartments are being finished for potential investors to have a true-to-type feel of the residential amenities at KAEC, the largest private sector project in the region.
Emaar.E.C has awarded Operation and Maintenance contracts for the Presentation Centre, utilities yard and landscaping. Contract for the construction of the main city gate has also been awarded.
“We accord high priority to building the infrastructure alongside the various project components. KAEC is being developed as the first Smart City and tenders are being issued for laying down the Information and Communications Technology network,” said Jamjoom. “Contracts and design for coast link roads and other utilities are also being finalized.”
One of the highlights of the Resort District is an 18-hole golf course. “Design and co-ordination work for the golf course is currently being finalized. The golf course and a series of villas will be completed later this year,” added Jamjoom.
KAEC is expected to usher in a new era of economic prosperity to the Kingdom. It offers easy access to the two Holy Cities of Makkah and Madina and is also near to Jeddah. The 168 million sq m project on the Red Sea Coast has six key components – the Sea Port, Industrial Zone, Central Business District featuring the Financial Island, Resort District, Educational Zone and Residential Communities. The first phase of the project includes the Sea Port, Industrial Zone, Resort District and Residential Communities.
