Two memoranda of understanding for the construction of an international resort...

Two memoranda of understanding for the construction of an international resort and the development of the island of West Saudi Arabia

Jeddah: Aisha Jafari

The Tourism Development Fund announced; The latest Saudi development fund announced yesterday the signing of two memoranda of understanding with the “Fakih Group”, which include two tourism projects in the governorates of Taif and Jeddah, to establish a global resort and develop an island on the coasts of the Red Sea.
The two memoranda were signed by Qusay Al-Fakhi, CEO of the Tourism Development Fund, and Abdul Rahman Fakih, Chairman of the Fakih Group. The first memorandum includes the construction of a project that includes a five-star international resort and hotel, international restaurants, and entertainment areas, on land that exceeds its total area. 165 thousand square meters in Al-Hada area.
The other memorandum included a project in Jeddah that aims to develop Al-Nawras Island on the Corniche, as a tourist frontage on the sea that includes recreational facilities, a public walkway for visitors, restaurants, art theaters, beaches, a yacht club and a marina.
The CEO of the Fund stated, in a statement issued yesterday, that Taif is one of the most important tourist destinations in the Kingdom, due to its location, nature and atmosphere, pointing to the goal of developing various tourism projects with high specifications in line with the national tourism strategy that aims to attract 100 million visitors. By 2030, in addition to raising the number of jobs to 1.5 million jobs, and increasing the tourism sector’s contribution to GDP to 10 percent.
Al-Fakheri stated that the Jeddah project will contribute to increasing the number of high-end and varied tourist and entertainment activities to serve the visitors of the ancient city on the Red Sea coast.
For his part, the Chairman of the Board of Directors of “Fakih Group” stated that the tourism sector “represents a great investment opportunity for investors, with the aim of providing decent services to citizens and tourists, competing with the largest tourist destinations in the world, and placing the Kingdom in the place that befits it on the global tourism map.”
On the other hand, KAUST University in Thuwal, near the King Abdullah Economic City, has created a department that allows small and medium enterprises to access resources and high-tech capabilities. The program, called the “Innovation Services Program for Small and Medium Enterprises,” helps All small and medium-sized companies are to benefit from the capabilities and capabilities of an innovation system in the university to overcome all challenges they face, increase their customer base and reach new markets.
Omar Kutbi, head of Innovation Services for Small and Medium Enterprises at KAUST, told Asharq Al-Awsat that the program serves enterprises by opening central laboratories at the university, in addition to dealing with minds and expertise at the university, pointing out that “more than 500 have been attracted. “A company and 25 sectors, from which we were able to obtain the information on which the program was based, through a comprehensive study.”
The new program follows the completion of the comprehensive survey conducted by KAUST with the General Authority for Small and Medium Enterprises (Monsha’at), the Chambers of Commerce in Jeddah, Riyadh and Dammam, the Saudi Ministry of Investment, the Royal Commission for Jubail and Yanbu, and the Council of Saudi Chambers, which included a survey of 500 establishments. Small and medium enterprises across the country, as the university survey is the first of its kind to collect private data on small and medium enterprises in the Kingdom.
Small and medium enterprises constitute 95 percent of the total number of commercial and investment establishments in Saudi Arabia.