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The Saudi Ministry of Finance’s budget statement for fiscal year (FY) 2023 provided construction updates on two giga projects.
Green Riyadh project: Launched in 2019, the project is among the world’s largest urban afforestation programmes. It aims to plant more than 7.5 million trees to raise the per capita share of green space in Riyadh from 1.7 square metres (sqm) to 28 sqm. The primary objectives for 2023 and the medium term include the completion of the afforestation of residential neighbourhoods, rehabilitation and afforestation of urban valleys, and execution of treated water networks with a total length of 533 kilometres. Increasing the water networks will help improve the irrigation capacity from 90,000 cubic metres (m3) to more than 1 million m3.
King Salman Park project: The project aims to transform the King Salman Air Base (the old Riyadh Airport) into one of the largest city parks in the world. Soil withdrawal work and the start of excavation work and construction activities for the Visitors Pavilion and the Royal Arts Complex were completed in 2022. The prominent 2023 and medium-term targets are the completion of most bridges and tunnels, the start of the work on a “smart city” and the completion of the infrastructure for the first phase.
(Writing by D Madhura; Editing by Anoop Menon)
