On the final day of the Future Projects Forum, hosted by the Saudi Contractors Authority, several companies in the country from multiple sectors unveiled their expansion plans worth $160 billion.
The virtual event showcased some of the Kingdom’s leading companies including the Saudi Electricity Co. (SEC), the Tamimi Group, the King Fahd Medical City and the National Industrial Development Center, who presented their expansion plans along with an outline of the services they have to offer and to attract investors.
Thammer Al-Dhubib, a strategic analyst at SEC, unveiled their company’s plans for more than 115 high-voltage projects which will be implemented throughout the country with almost 300 maintenance and operation projects set to raise the efficiency of the electrical system and over 13 electrical grid interconnection projects designed to link regions with high voltage.
“These plans, which are mapped out between the years of 2021 and 2023, are estimated at approximately $14.4 billion. These investments aim to provide electrical services that will meet subscriber expectations and be delivered to nearly a million new subscribers,” Mr. Al-Dhubib said.
During the event, Majed Al-Rumaih, water infrastructure planning expert at the Saudi Water Partnership Co. (SWPC), outlined the company’s goals to provide desalinated water projects to the private sector, purify and treat sewage water, offer water tank projects and transportation lines, and launch water dam projects to ensure the availability of drinking water.
“In the past two years, we have reduced our production price by 30-40 percent. We are committed to supporting local content by at least 50 percent during construction and up to 80 percent during operations,” Khaled Kuraishy, CEO of SWPC stated.
The Saudi Authority for Data and Artificial Intelligence also unveiled its plans to make artificial intelligence (AI) accountable for 12.4 percent of the country’s gross domestic product, as well as to increase its capacity to contribute $15 trillion to the global economy by 2030.
The National Center for AI also announced the plans for a project titled the “King Salman AI Oasis,” a first-of-its-kind interactive institution where users can learn about AI in an educational and entertaining atmosphere.
The CEO of electric utility company ENGIE Saudi Arabia, Turki Al-Shehri, revealed the company has projects worth $13.2 billion in the pipeline for 2021. King Fahd Medical City announced plans for several expansion works, including developing and improving the central sterilization department, the children’s dialysis department, the blood bank, the women’s emergency room and the children’s intensive care unit.
The largest women’s university in the world, Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman University also unveiled its expansion plans in the works. The university intends to build water reservoirs, rooms for security guards, restaurants and coffee shops, some equipped with drive-thru facilities and warehouses and storage centers.
Further, the forum included presentations from companies that marketed their services to potential builders and investors, like the Tamimi Group and the Saudi Services for Electro Mechanic Works. Conducted in collaboration with Saudi Aramco and SABIC, the forum showcased nearly 1,000 projects planned in the Kingdom over the next three years.
