The Governor of the Madinah region, Prince Faisal bin Salman bin Abdulaziz, inaugurated a number of projects in the Knowledge Economic City (KEC) and witnessed the signing of a number of contracts and agreements for the development of commercial, residential, tourism and entertainment projects.
The contracts included a tripartite agreement between the Saudi Tourism Development Fund (TDF), Riyadh Bank and the KEC to finance Phase 1 of the project, which will be implemented with the support of the Madinah Region Development Authority.
Phase 1 includes the construction of a commercial market, Hilton Hotel, the Boulevard commercial walkway, recreational area and health and sports centers.
The Tourism Development Fund, of the Ministry of Tourism, is financing the project as part of the fund’s strategy to provide support to private sector investors and boost the establishment of modern tourism projects that help enhance and develop the capabilities of the tourism sector in the Kingdom.
KEC has also agreed to the terms for the management of the Madinah Gate Fund Project Development with Riyadh. It aims to develop the lands adjacent to the Haramain high-speed train station in Madinah and the area overlooking Prince Nayef Road.
The development includes the construction of a four-star hotel and hotel apartments with 325 hotel units managed by the Hilton Group, markets, shops, restaurants, entertainment area, a bus stop and other services.
Public transport will be directly linked to the Haramain high-speed train station.
Prince Faisal also inaugurated the construction works on the Aliaa residential project in Dar al-Jiwar, and the development of Elite International Schools, a model international school complex for boys and girls from kindergarten to grade 12.
The complex of schools will be built on a 20,000-square-meter plot of land as part of a 25-year lease agreement and will be able to accommodate around 1,700 students. The first school is scheduled to open in September 2022.
CEO of TDF Qusai al-Fakhri said that the agreement is one of several successful deals with local banks aimed at providing investors with attractive financial solutions that encourage investments into this promising sector.
“It exemplifies our commitment to delivering on the National Tourism Strategy, increasing the GDP contribution of the tourism sector from 3 to 10 percent by 2030 and creating 1 million new jobs,” noted Fakhri.
The KEC Hub will be a 68,000-square meter tourism complex in Madinah, valued at $346.3 million making it among the biggest tourist projects in Madinah.
The new complex is located only around 6km from the Prophet’s Mosque, and it is easily accessible through the Haramain high-speed railway at the Knowledge City. The railway connects Madinah with Makkah in around 55 minutes.
The project will benefit from the position of Madinah in the Islamic world, in addition to its being an international destination for tourism and heritage.
It ranked 23rd among the top 100 City Destinations for 2019 with around 9 million tourists, according to the latest report by Euromonitor International.
