The university will have five colleges with advanced academic and research facilities and the first phase of its campus project will cost SR645 million.

During the ceremony, Higher Education Minister Dr. Khaled Al-Anqari announced that 15,000 Saudi students would be sent abroad for higher studies under the King Abdullah Scholarship Program.

Late Tuesday night, Abdullah unveiled a SR30 billion economic city in the region, which will host agricultural and mineral industries, an education zone and a residential area with 30,000 housing units, the Saudi Press Agency said.

The Prince Abdul Aziz ibn Musaed Economic CityPrince Abdul Aziz ibn Musaed Economic City, named after the first governor of Hail, an agricultural region rich in mineral resources that has some 600,000 inhabitants, will have its own airport, a railway service and a dry dock. The king handed over the license to build the city to a group of investors before laying its foundation stone. He also watched a documentary on the city.

Speaking about the university project, Al-Anqari said Hail University was designed to become one of the most distinguished institutions of higher learning in the Kingdom with state-of-the-art academic and research facilities. "It will have a unique academic environment that brings together education, research, application and production," he explained.

"The first phase of the university project will cost SR645 million," the minister said. Extending over an area of nine million square meters, the university will include five colleges: College of Medicine and Medical Sciences, College of Engineering, College of Computer Science, College of Sciences and Community College.

Abdullah arrived in Hail on Tuesday from Ahsa on the fifth leg of his current tour of the Kingdom's regions during which he is meeting people and inaugurating new projects. The king has already visited Jubail, Alkhobar, Qateef and Ahsa.

The new economic city in northern Saudi Arabia is the second of five such cities planned by the Saudi Arabian General Investment Authority (SAGIA) in different parts of the Kingdom. Last December, the first city, King Abdullah Economic City in Rabigh, some 200 km north of Jeddah, was launched. The King Abdullah City is expected to attract SR100 billion ($26.6 billion) in investment.

The Hail economic city will cost SR30 billion, according to a source in Rakiza HoldingRakiza Holding, the company which will oversee the project along with SAGIA and the Hail Development Authority. The city will have 12 strategic facilities for trade and services. Some 80,000 people are expected to live in the new city, which will have business and leisure centers. Extending over 156 million square meters, it will also house 3,000 office units and a logistical supply and services center.

The venture, whose cost was confirmed by other officials at the launch, is part of efforts to boost less developed regions of the Kingdom. "The government is making sure to allocate a large part of the budget surplus to development projects in the regions which did not get their full share," the king told Hail residents at a reception.

The planned economic city will be a big boost to development in the region, the king said, adding that it would create 30,000 jobs over the next 10 years.

King Abdullah also dedicated a number of educational, manpower training, housing and infrastructure projects in Hail. Crown Prince Sultan, and top officials including Prince Sultan ibn Salman, secretary-general of the Supreme Commission for Tourism, attended the launch. Abdullah's next destination is the central region of Qasim, where he will dedicate 13 educational, welfare and development projects worth SR5 billion. The projects include Qasim University, which is estimated to cost SR1.2 billion.

Also yesterday, King Abdullah allocated 80 million square meters of land in Hail, belonged to the Ministry of Defense and Aviation, to build houses for Saudis. A new residential area will be established in the plot to accommodate some 15,000 families. According to the plan, there will be 350 investment projects, 80 schools, 100 mosques and a number of commercial centers in the area.

The king also launched the King Abdul Aziz Cultural Center project, comprising modern shopping centers, hotels, administrative and office buildings and service centers. The state will have a 73 percent stake in the project that will be completed in seven years, SPA said.

Abdullah later inaugurated a charitable project of Suleiman ibn Abdul Aziz Al-Rajhi, a businessman. The SR600 million project includes 400 housing units, two vocational training schools, a large mosque, a polyclinic and a public library. Al-Rajhi plans to carry out similar projects in other parts of the Kingdom.

The king commissioned a SR1.8 billion water distribution project to supply water to hundreds of villages in the region. He also launched the Hail-Jouf Expressway and Hail-Madinah Expressway.

Ali Al-Ghafees, governor of the General Organization for Technical Education and Vocational Training (GOTEVOT), said his organization would establish 162 vocational training institutes, 45 technical colleges and 41 higher technical institutes for girls. He said GOTEVOT was carrying out projects worth SR350 million in Hail.

© Arab News 2006

 

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