Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Crown Prince, Prime Minister and Chairman of the Council of Economic and Development Affairs, announced on Monday the establishment of the Strategic Office to Develop the Northern Borders Region.
The office aims to increase the level of development in the cities and governorates of the region, and boost the quality of life of citizens and visitors of the region through investing the economic, natural and historical elements there, and in its strategic border location as one of the gates to Saudi Arabia.
The office will be responsible for launching quality initiatives and projects that contribute to creating an attractive investment environment, with a view to achieving great development and an economic revival, and create employment opportunities for citizens in a way that boosts sustainable development goals.
The office will also be tasked with coordinating government institution efforts to boost development in the Northern Borders Region, setting up mechanisms based on which development is going to take place. It will measure the performance of government institutions, and make use of the potential and natural resources in a way that boosts the economic and social aspects in the region. A development commission will later be established in the region.
The establishment of the office is part of several other strategic offices and development commissions across the country. They have helped achieve big successes in implementing their tasks under the direct supervision of Crown Prince Mohammed. This reflects his keenness to achieve sustainable development in all regions, to make them attractive to domestic and foreign investments, and boost tourism, and political, economic, cultural, and sports aspects to benefit all citizens, and create a prosperous economy and vital society in an ambitious homeland in realization of the Saudi Vision 2030.
The Strategic Office to Develop the Northern Borders Region will focus on taking advantage of the exceptional potential of the region and its cities. It will invest in its natural, tourist and historical heritage, to increase its contribution to the national economy and create an environment that attracts domestic and foreign investments, which will play a role in diversifying citizens' sources of income.
The office will also help in creating more job opportunities for the citizens of the region. It will also address any difficulties or obstacles hindering the utilization of the economic elements of the governorates' agricultural, tourism, heritage and entertainment projects.
The Northern Borders Region, situated on an area of 133,000 square kilometers, is home to 400,000 people. It contributes SAR27 billion to the Kingdom's GDP. It is desert in nature, full of valleys and plains. It houses a large reserve of phosphate that is equivalent to 7% of the global phosphate reserve, and one of the world's largest reserves of natural gas. It boasts several phosphate industries that offer great opportunities for the manufacturing industries.
