Currently in its design stage, the closed industrial city will house many plants, factories, vocational training facilities and an engineering college
Saudi Arabia will have a Military Industrial City in Al Kharj area in Riyadh. The project, which is in the design stage, will be exclusively devoted to military industries and hold many construction opportunities, according to a senior official.
Currently, additional details are not available as the development is a private industrial city project for the military and the client is the Royal Military of Saudi Arabia.
Speaking to Zawya, an official from the Saudi Industrial Property Authority (Modon) said, the Saudi ministry of defense and Modon plan to have many plants, factories and vocational training facilities including an engineering college within the project.
"The Military Industrial City is still in the design stage. Like many other countries in the world where military industries are closed, the Saudi Military Industrial City, too, will be a closed industrial city. It will be managed by the Saudi military. More details about the project cannot be revealed due to the prevailing laws. Big multinational defense firms like the BAE Systems, Lockheed Martin and others will be present in the proposed Military Industrial City. It will be located in Al Kharj, where there is an existing industrial city," the official confirmed, adding that it will house many factories manufacturing and assembling arms and ammunition.
Al Kharj is located 70 kilometers south of Riyadh and was home to 60,000 coalition forces during the 1991 Gulf War. It is in the Central region of Saudi Arabia.
"Our role at Modon is to ensure infrastructure, water supply, electricity and other public utilities to the project. Once we have completed our role, the city will be handed over to the Royal Military and the private companies managing the city," said the source.
"It will be the first such industrial city dedicated to military industries," the official told Zawya on the sidelines of the Big 5 exhibition in Dubai. Saudi Arabia, which spends several billion dollars per year on military procurements, has many other industrial cities planned, added the official.
According to recent reports, Saudi Arabia is the fourth largest defense budget spender in the world; it spent around USD 52.3 billion in 2013 and will increase the figure to nearly USD 77 billion by 2018.
While armored vehicles are manufactured locally, other military products are mostly imported. Military industrial cities, known as closed cities in the erstwhile Soviet Union, or the military industrial complexes in the US, are quite new to the Middle East. The only known military hardware manufacturing facility currently exists in Abu Dhabi, UAE.
"Other new industrial cities under design stage include Ahsa 2 Industrial City, Salva Industrial City, Dharma Industrial City and Riyadh Five Industrial City," said the Modon source.
"Modon has already achieved the target for 2013 to build 160 square kilometers of industrial cities in various locations and the biggest such industrial city is Sudair, which spreads over 275 million square meters. We have completed 160 square kilometers of industrial cities, consisting of 29 industrial cities and the under-construction projects will be completed within one to three years."
He added that Saudi Arabia is also building other new industrial cities and the list includes Al Baha 2, Jeddah Industrial City 3 and 4, Riyadh Industrial City 3, Damman Industrial City 3, Hafar Industrial City, Al Batin Industrial City and Shargah Industrial City. "There is a huge waiting list for new factories in Riyadh where two industrial cities are already full. Most of the completed industrial cities are completely occupied and there is demand for more space in Jeddah," he added.
Modon has established industrial cities in various regions of Saudi Arabia, and is currently overseeing 28 existing and underdevelopment cities which include Riyadh (1, 2 & 3), Jeddah (1, 2 & 3), Dammam (1, 2 & 3), Makkah, Qassim 1&2, Al-Ahssa', Madinah, Al-Kharj, Sudair, Hail, Tabuk, Ar'ar, Al-Jouf, Assir, Jazan, Najran, Al-Baha, Taif, Al-Zulfi, Shaqraa and Hafr Al-Bate.
"Modon is engaged in developing the industrial landscape of Saudi Arabia. We had only 14 industrial cities in 2007, which has gone up to 29 by 2013."
Saudi Arabia has about 3,000 factories in its industrial cities and employs more than 300,000 employees. These cities have invited investments worth SAR 250 billion (USD 67 billion), according to the authority.
© Zawya 2013
