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Saleh Fareed
The Chairman of Kingdom Holding Company (KHC) said the first stage of the 1km-high Jeddah Tower, set to be the world’s tallest building, is due by 2019 after solving the financial issues with contractor Saudi Binladin Group (SBG).
Speaking to the press on Thursday night at the project’s construction site on the 28th floor of Jeddah Tower, Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal, chairman of Kingdom Holding Company, confirmed that the Jeddah Tower is going to be the tallest in the world despite the latest announcement of Dubai in building the tallest tower in the world.
“It is a solid concrete building unlike the one announced in Dubai which is considered as a skeleton. This is why our tower will be the tallest in the world,” he said.
He also said the final height of the building would not be revealed even to project partners until six months before its completion, when the size of the spire at the top will also be revealed. He pointed out that the tower is expected to progress slowly and steadily. “Construction of the Jeddah Tower will rely on cutting-edge technology, including the high-strength reinforced concrete and the pumps used to elevate it to record heights,” he said.
He announced that the overall construction cost of the tower and the surrounded economic city is around SR75 billion.
He noted that his vision is also that the project itself will set the world’s sights on his beloved Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and particularly on Jeddah. Furthermore, he said the project would help create hundreds of jobs for our Saudi youth and will boost tourism in the Kingdom.
He also shed light on the Kingdom’s Vision 2030, lauding its far-sightedness in projecting the road map for a bright future of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. He said, “We do trust our government in building a great future for the country.”
Jeddah Tower currently stands 220m tall and 50 floors high. The central core containing elevator shafts and stairwells has reached Level 50.
The Jeddah Tower is the first phase of the whole Kingdom City project, with the phase 2 of the Kingdom City project will consist of building all other infrastructure such as several other skyscrapers, apartment buildings and other social centers. The phase 3 will be to promote Jeddah City by encouraging tourism.
© The Saudi Gazette 2017
