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Saudi Cabinet Welcomes PIF’s Launching of Development Companies, Projects | ASHARQ AL-AWSAT English Archive 2005 -2017
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Public Investment Fund prepares to launch “Rou’a Al Haram” company (SPA)


Saudi Arabia’s national Cabinet session welcomed on Tuesday the Public Investment Fund’s decision on establishing development companies tasked with enhancing visitor accommodation capacities of the Kingdom.

King Salman bin Abdulaziz, chairing the session in Jeddah, also expressed his looking forward that his visit to Russia and talks with President Vladimir Putin and Russian officials will achieve the aspirations of the two countries to enhance and develop bilateral relations in all fields in the service of common interests and efforts to achieve the international peace and security.

‘Al Haram Rou’a Company’ and ‘Al Madinah Rou’a Company’ were founded in line with the Kingdom’s vision 2030. They aim at expanding Saudi Arabia’s capacity for hosting increasing numbers of incoming visitors seeking to perform Hajj and Umrah rituals.

Preliminary estimates indicate that the total number of annual visitors to Al Madinah will increase to 23 million by 2030. The company aims to develop a 1.3 million square meter site no more than 1,000 metres away from the east wing of the Prophet’s Mosque. The project will see the development of 500 new housing units and 80,000 hotel rooms, increasing hotel capacity to receive 240,000 guests per day, in addition to increasing the number of prayer areas to accommodate 200,000 worshipers per day.

The Cabinet session lauded the PIF’s announcement on the redevelopment of the Jeddah City waterfront Corniche as well.

The renovation project’s budget is estimated at SR 18 billion, with a deadline set after 10 years. It aims at fully transforming the scene into a vital area and a unique tourist, residential and commercial attraction, placing Jeddah as one of the top 100 cities worldwide.

On the other hand, Cabinet members reviewed the meetings of the Kingdom’s delegation with the representatives of Russian, American, Japanese and South Korean delegations on the sidelines of the 61st General Conference of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in Vienna to discuss the options for implementing the National Atomic Energy Project in the Kingdom and ways of cooperation to support the project, especially with regard to the feasibility study of the initial technical aspects of engineering designs FEED to build the first two reactors in the Kingdom.

King Salman bin Abdulaziz briefed the Cabinet on the results of his meeting with Bahrain’ s King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, his talks with Somalia’s President Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo Mohamed, and his meetings with UAE interior minister Sheikh Lieutenant General Saif bin Zayed Al Nahyan, and British Conservative lawmaker Leo Docherty.

The Minister of Culture and Information Dr. Awwad bin Saleh Al-Awwad said in a statement to Saudi Press Agency following the session that the Cabinet expressed its thanks and appreciation to the King for the issuance of the royal order to apply the traffic system and its executive regulations, including issuing driving licenses for males and females.

The Cabinet commended the King’s inauguration of new Taif projects whose costs estimated at SR 11 billion, stressing the contents of the King’s speech on the enjoyment of the Kingdom and its people with blessings including the presence of wealth, security and stability and his directive to citizens that the doors are open and ears listen for every citizen who sees that there is an interest to the religion above all and the country of the Two Holy Mosques to which we are all servants.