Contract opportunities in Jeddah to be unveiled

Jeddah's rapid expansion will be the focus of Citscape Jeddah 2010 next month.

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Prime opportunities for contractors are to be unveiled at a three-day real estate investment and development conference in Saudi Arabia next month.

Cityscape Jeddah 2010, taking place 7-9 June, will see over 100 local and international property investors and developers displaying projects related to Jeddah’s 20-year re-development programme.

The programme’s initiatives, endorsed by the Ministry of Commerce and supported by the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry, will include the enhancement of the Khozama and Ruwais areas and rehabilitation of central and historic districts in Saudi Arabia’s ‘Gateway city’.

Since many of the new developments are mega projects, accounting for a large proportion of the KSA’s SR 1 trillion-worth of ongoing property developments, they present key opportunities for hungry contractors.

The King Abdullah Economic City contract alone is worth SR 99.75 billion (AED 99.69 billion) whilst the Jeddah Hills development will be worth SR 42 billion (AED 41.14 billion).

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Tareq Telmesani , CEO of Jeddah Development and Urban Regeneration Company (JDURC) which was set up by Jeddah Municipality to spearhead the city's regeneration projects, said: "Mega projects in Jeddah will see the city and its infrastructure transformed across the board during the next two decades - creating an enormous range of partnership opportunities."

As the second largest city in Saudi Arabia and the main entry point to the holiest Islamic sites, Jeddah city has expanded 1000-fold in the last 60 years, growing from a traditional port to a cosmopolitan city with a poluation of 3.9 million people.

Its infrastructure development is hoped to better accommodate pilgrims, provide a context for business growth and support a population density which is currently rising at a rate of 28% each year.

Cityscape Jeddah’s director Deep Marwaha said: "Jeddah will need to build around 5 million housing units to keep pace with housing demand over the next two decades. The city needs to redirect its infrastructure growth plans to sustain its growth, and this will require new and substantial investments.

“Forums such as Cityscape Jeddah are vital for developers, investors and other stakeholders to discuss the right strategies to maintain Jeddah's role as a national gateway.

“Industry and government need to continue to engage in more dialogue to harmonise their respective activities with Jeddah's development strategies."

With a theme of 'transparency, investment models and future partnerships,’ Cityscape Jeddah 2010 is set to adopt a more interactive format than previous years’ events, as well as hosting the 2nd Cityscape award ceremony for best-performing companies in the region’s real estate sector.

It is sponsored by Sumou Real Estate, Knowledge Economic City, Shuaa Capital and Laticrete.