"Valuable contacts already made": Mohammad Khoja

[Selangor, Malaysia.- July 16, 2007] Knowledge Economic City Al Madinah (KEC) representatives have been highly encouraged by the level of early interest shown in KEC by delegates registered for the Second International Symposium on Knowledge Cities which starts today in Selangor, Malaysia.

KEC Marketing Director Mohammad Khoja and Business Development Manager Hisham Zahid are attending the symposium along with Dato Prof Zainuddin Bin Muhammad, an advisor of KEC who is the Chairman of Jurkur Resources Sdn Bhd, to spread the word about KEC's ambitious plans and learn from the experiences of others.

Speaking from Selangor, Mohammad Khoja said valuable contacts had already been developed with potential strategic partners and the symposium as a whole is a unique networking opportunity for those involved in the development of knowledge cities.

"There is a lot of experience and knowledge here that we can tap into that will make our job in establishing Knowledge Economic City in Al Madinah that much easier," he said.

The symposium is the second in a series promoted by the Arab Urban Development Institute (AUDI) and the first to be held outside the Middle East. (AUDI was founded in 1980 as a regional, non-governmental, non-profit urban research, technical and consulting organization. It has an active membership of more than 400 Arab cities and towns representing 22 Arab states.)

Knowledge Economic City is Gold Sponsor of the symposium while the Al Madinah Municipality is part of the organising team along with local hosts, the Malaysian Institute of Planners.

More than 250 delegates from around the world are in Selangor for the three day event, including representatives from knowledge cities at all levels of development. This includes almost 100 delegates from the Middle East.

Opened by the Deputy Prime Minister of Malaysia, the symposium has the following themes:
Knowledge Based Economy
The Role of Technology In Establishing Knowledge Cities
The Institutional Transition And Building Knowledge And Human Capitals
Partnerships For Development
International And Regional Experience

KEC will play a major part in the last session, when Dato Prof Zainuddin Bin Muhammad, together with Mohammad Khoja, will share KEC's experience in planning an economic city in Saudi Arabia by presenting a paper titled "Knowledge Economic City in Al Madinah Al Munanwarah".

As part of the symposium programme, technical field visits are being organised to a number of cutting-edge establishments, where delegates will be able to see smart city technology first hand.

KEC's attendance and gold sponsorship of the symposium follows a visit to Saudi Arabia earlier this year by the Malaysian Deputy Prime Minister when Memoranda of Understanding were signed by KEC with Malaysia's Multimedia Development Corporation (MDeC) and Multimedia University, both recognized leaders in the field of developing knowledge-based economies.

-Ends-

About Knowledge Economic City Al Madinah (KEC)
Knowledge Economic City is the third of six economic cities announced by Amr al Dabbagh, Governor of the Saudi Arabian General Investment Authority (SAGIA).

The 25 billion Riyal (USD7 billion) project is located at Al-Madinah, the home of the Prophet (Peace Be Upon Him) where the Holy Quran was compiled. The project has special significance for Muslims throughout the world because of its location.

Knowledge Economic City is designed as a project that will position Saudi Arabia and young Saudi Arabian entrepreneurs as internationally respected leaders in knowledge based industries and aims to attract and develop talent from around the world. It will provide them with opportunities on a global scale while providing investors and entrepreneurs with infrastructure, opportunity, a unique pool of talent and the potential for a healthy return on investment.

More than 20,000 jobs and accommodation for about 150,000 people will be created by the project which is expected to bring about 10 billion Riyals a year into the region once it is completed by 2020.

For more information, please contact:
Mark Ebrey
Senior Consultant
Cicero & Bernay
Telephone: +971 4 334 2966
Email: mark@cbpr.ae
Website: www.cbpr.ae

© Press Release 2007