White Lands Program to Register More than 20 Million SQM of Developed Lands in Riyadh

The Saudi Minister of Housing attends the launch of the Maskan Real Estate Exhibition in Riyadh (Asharq Al-Awsat)
The Saudi Minister of Housing attends the launch of the Maskan Real Estate Exhibition in Riyadh (Asharq Al-Awsat)
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White Lands Program to Register More than 20 Million SQM of Developed Lands in Riyadh

The Saudi Minister of Housing attends the launch of the Maskan Real Estate Exhibition in Riyadh (Asharq Al-Awsat)
The Saudi Minister of Housing attends the launch of the Maskan Real Estate Exhibition in Riyadh (Asharq Al-Awsat)

Saudi Arabia’s White Lands Program will register in 20 days more than 20 million square meters of developed lands in Riyadh.

The program expects that the new inventory will provide about 60,000 plots of land with an average area of 350 square meters, which can pump hundreds of thousands of housing units into real estate in Riyadh.

During its participation in the Maskan Real Estate Exhibition, the program indicated that Riyadh acquired the largest share of the total undeveloped raw lands registered in the program, with about 100 million square meters of land that is currently being developed.

The White Lands Program seeks to increase the supply of developed lands in a manner that achieves a balance between supply and demand, the availability of residential lands at reasonable prices, the protection of fair competition, and the reduction of monopoly.

The Minister of Municipal and Rural Affairs and Housing, Majid bin Abdullah Al-Hogail, inaugurated on Thursday the Maskan Real Estate Exhibition, which will be held over four days, with the participation of a number of real estate developers, exhibitors, and experts in real estate affairs and financing agencies.

The exhibition saw the signing of seven agreements between the ministry’s real estate development body and a number of real estate companies, in addition to the launch of five funds that would provide about 5,000 housing units.

Al-Hogail pointed to great efforts to increase the supply of new residential units and lands, with the aim to cover the current and future demand for housing by 2030.

The minister said that the number of factories working in the real estate sector increased by 31 percent at the end of the third quarter of 2021.

The Maskan Real Estate Exhibition will display the best options and solutions for the beneficiaries through financing offers from banks and financing agencies. The forum seeks to facilitate home ownership procedures and provide solutions and products to increase the real estate supply, especially in Riyadh. The exhibition witnessed the signing of a number of partnerships and agreements in the real estate development sector.



Shipping Company Maersk Temporarily Pauses Haifa Port Calls

Israeli Air Force AH-64 Apache attack helicopters fly over Israel's northern city of Haifa on June 19, 2025. (Photo by Jalaa MAREY / AFP)
Israeli Air Force AH-64 Apache attack helicopters fly over Israel's northern city of Haifa on June 19, 2025. (Photo by Jalaa MAREY / AFP)
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Shipping Company Maersk Temporarily Pauses Haifa Port Calls

Israeli Air Force AH-64 Apache attack helicopters fly over Israel's northern city of Haifa on June 19, 2025. (Photo by Jalaa MAREY / AFP)
Israeli Air Force AH-64 Apache attack helicopters fly over Israel's northern city of Haifa on June 19, 2025. (Photo by Jalaa MAREY / AFP)

Container shipping company Maersk said on Friday it had temporarily paused vessel calls at Israel's Haifa port amid regional tensions.

The Danish company said it did not experience any further disruptions to its scheduled operations in the region.

Israel has been hitting Iran from the air since last Friday in what it describes as an effort to prevent Tehran from developing nuclear weapons.

Iran has denied plans to develop such weapons and has retaliated by launching counterstrikes on Israel.

On Thursday, Iran's Revolutionary Guards said it had launched combined missile and drone attacks at military and industrial sites linked to Israel's defense industry in Haifa and Tel Aviv.