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SDC CEO: We Seek Investing $800 Mln in Infrastructure Development

SDC CEO Husameddin Al-Madani
SDC CEO Husameddin Al-Madani
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SDC CEO: We Seek Investing $800 Mln in Infrastructure Development

SDC CEO Husameddin Al-Madani
SDC CEO Husameddin Al-Madani

With Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman announcing the creation of the Soudah Development Company (SDC) in Saudi Arabia’s Asir region, the kingdom is set for building a luxury mountain destination that features immersive cultural experiences.

The destination adds another dimension to Saudi Arabia’s ambitious tourism goals, and complements those destinations created on the Red Sea coast and around the capital city of Riyadh.

SDC CEO Husameddin Al-Madani, in an interview with Asharq Al-Awsat, confirmed that the company is seeking to invest more than SR 3 billion ($800 million) in infrastructure development in the targeted region.

This will contribute an estimated SR29 billion ($7.7 billion) to the Kingdom’s cumulative GDP by 2030, Madani confirmed, adding that the company will reveal more details about its general plans soon.

Madani revealed that the SDC will work on quality projects through the development of the kingdom’s tourism and entertainment sectors.

Planned developments include 2,700 hotel rooms, 1,300 residential units, and 30 unique commercial and entertainment attractions that aim to attract over 2 million visitors annually.

“Soudah is home to the tallest peak in the kingdom, with an elevation of over 3,000 meters. It also offers a large number of heritage villages, archeological sites, and juniper forests,” Madani said, stressing that the area has great potential to become a global mountain destination.

When asked on the date of releasing the SDC’s comprehensive general scheme, Madani confirmed that the company is working with a team of development experts and that the project’s plans will be announced later.

“The SDC aims to attract 2 million domestic and international tourists year-long by 2030,” Al-Madani asserted, pointing out that the size of expected investments in the development project will reach around SR 11 billion ($2.9 billion) with opportunities offered to both local and international investors.

Madani affirmed that the company aims to attract international investments to the region, give local investors opportunities, and support small and medium enterprises.

He further revealed that the SDC has practically started working on preserving the region’s heritage and culture, paying attention to its originality, and empowering the local community.

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Hochstein to Asharq Al-Awsat: Land Border Demarcation between Lebanon, Israel ‘is Within Reach’

AFP file photo of Amos Hochstein speaking to reporters at the Grand Serail in Beirut, Lebanon
AFP file photo of Amos Hochstein speaking to reporters at the Grand Serail in Beirut, Lebanon
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Hochstein to Asharq Al-Awsat: Land Border Demarcation between Lebanon, Israel ‘is Within Reach’

AFP file photo of Amos Hochstein speaking to reporters at the Grand Serail in Beirut, Lebanon
AFP file photo of Amos Hochstein speaking to reporters at the Grand Serail in Beirut, Lebanon

The former US special envoy, Amos Hochstein, said the maritime border agreement struck between Lebanon and Israel in 2022 and the ceasefire deal reached between Israel and Hezbollah at the end of last year show that a land border demarcation “is within reach.”

“We can get to a deal but there has to be political willingness,” he said.

“The agreement of the maritime boundary was unique because we’d been trying to work on it for over 10 years,” Hochstein told Asharq Al-Awsat.

“I understood that a simple diplomatic push for a line was not going to work. It had to be a more complicated and comprehensive agreement. And there was a real threat that people didn’t realize that if we didn’t reach an agreement we would have ended up in a conflict - in a hot conflict - or war over resources.”

He said there is a possibility to reach a Lebanese-Israeli land border agreement because there’s a “provision that mandated the beginning of talks on the land boundary.”

“I believe with concerted effort they can be done quickly,” he said, adding: “It is within reach.”

Hochstein described communication with Hezbollah as “complicated,” saying “I never had only one interlocutor with Hezbollah .... and the first step is to do shuttle diplomacy between Lebanon, Lebanon and Lebanon, and then you had to go to Israel and do shuttle diplomacy between the different factions” there.

“The reality of today and the reality of 2022 are different. Hezbollah had a lock on the political system in Lebanon in the way it doesn’t today.”

North of Litani

The 2024 ceasefire agreement requires Israel to withdraw from Lebanon and for the Lebanese army to take full operational control of the south Litani region, all the way up to the border. It requires Hezbollah to demilitarize and move further north of the Litani region, he said.

“I don’t want to get into the details of other violations,” he said, but stated that the ceasefire works if both conditions are met.

Lebanon’s opportunity

“Lebanon can rewrite its future ... but it has to be a fundamental change,” he said.

“There is so much potential in Lebanon and if you can bring back opportunity and jobs - and through economic and legal reforms in the country - I think that the future is very bright,” Hochstein told Asharq Al-Awsat.

“Hezbollah is not trying to control the politics and remember that Hezbollah is just an arm of Iran” which “should not be imposing its political will in Lebanon, Israel should not be imposing its military will in Lebanon, Syria should not. No one should. This a moment for Lebanon to make decisions for itself,” he added.