Portal:Saudi Arabia/Did you know

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Did you know that a whole new city is being built on the shore of the Red Sea, King Abdullah Economic City (Arabic:مدينة الملك عبدالله اللإقتصادية), a multi-billion economic project revealed in 2005 in Saudi Arabia. This future city will be located along the red sea, around 50km north of Jeddah. The city is fairly small (55 km²), 35km in length. However, it will have huge buildings and high skyscrapers that would be important landmarks in Saudi Arabia and the Middle East. The project cost is about 100 Billion Saudi riyals (US$26 Billion). The King Abdullah Economic City will be a multi-stage development with construction beginning on Wednesday, 21 December 2005. This mega project will closely integrate itself into the Kingdom’s on-going drive to expand the economy, create employment opportunities for its youthful population and function as a catalyst to attract foreign investment, global trade, commerce and industry. Based on initial forecasts, the project and its several components will create up to 500,000 employment opportunities in the various industries and service-oriented companies that will open in the City.