Saudi Arabia Announces $2.9B Investments, Including ‘Mars-Themed City’ in Taif
Saudi Arabia will develop a $5bn Mars-themed city, a rose-growing industry and five five-star tourist resorts in Taif.
Businesses in the Kingdom announced the signing of SR11bn ($2.9bn) of contracts with Chinese and Korean firms at the Taif Investment Forum.
The contracts stipulate, among others, the establishment of the first phase of the space science fiction city Mars War, at a value of SR5bn ($1.3bn), which could exceed SR20bn ($5.3bn) in the final stage of this tourist project.
The Mars-themed project will be carried out at Taif University with the Beijing Technology Group, which includes Chinese universities, and government and advertising companies.
Also included is the establishment of an emergency information centre, together with China Mobile company, at a value of SR2bn ($533m), to support the company’s planned centre in Jeddah, as well as a project to build five five-star tourist resorts, and other municipal projects worth over SR1bn ($267m).
There is also a project with an Indian company to produce cooling material for computers, especially central computers, to reduce their energy consumption by 80 per cent and thus bring down the cooling cost, and the establishment of a Saudi unicorn company for growing roses, with raw materials used in the rose-growing industry sourced from the Kingdom.
Taif Investment Forum dedicated the second session to discussing “quality of life and humanising cities”, with Director of Strategic Partnerships at the Quality of Life Program Abdulrahman Al Anbar reviewing the objectives of the program, such as improving livelihoods, increasing employment and leisure opportunities.
The aim is to make the Kingdom an attractive destination for ambitious young people, contributing to improving the lifestyle, and building an ideal society for citizens, residents and visitors.
Al Anbar said that the program, one of those set in the Saudi Vision 2030, seeks to transform the Kingdom into a destination for seekers of global sporting and recreational events, making it a regional and international tourist attraction, and a sophisticated country that every citizen is proud of.
He also referred to concerted efforts to bring about a better quality of life by creating and developing diverse choices in all sectors, promoting the participation of individuals in artistic, cultural and sporting activities, giving the possibility to enjoy a healthy and active life, and developing better liveable urban areas.
