RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has announced the establishment of the Strategic Office for the Development of the Northern Border region to enhance the quality of life in the area.
The office will aim to raise the level of development in cities and governorates of the northern region by investing in economic, natural and historical elements in the area.
The development project will be responsible for launching qualitative initiatives and programs that contribute to creating an attractive investment environment for capital, which will achieve a great development and economic renaissance and provide job opportunities, according to the Saudi Press Agency.
Moreover, the office will coordinate between government agencies to support development in the cities and governorates of the northern borders, organizing their development mechanisms, and measuring the performance of government agencies, by reemploying potential and natural resources.
The Crown Prince’s announcement comes as an extension of a number of strategic offices and development agencies in several regions to address difficulties and obstacles that prevent maximizing the utilization of economic growth.
The office greatly reflects the Kingdom’s keenness to turn all cities and regions into major attractions for internal and external investments in addition to global tourism, political, economic, cultural and sports events.
The northern border area occupies an area of 133 square kilometers of the Kingdom’s territory, is inhabited by 400,000 people and contributes SR27 billion ($7.2 billion) to the gross domestic product.
The area holds a huge stock of phosphate, equivalent to seven percent of the global reserve, as well as large reserves of natural gas.
Riyadh also spread into the region with fields of herbs and pastures as well as 15,000 kilometers of natural reserves. The area is home to many archaeological sites that date back to pre-Islamic times such as the foundations of the wall of the Dawqara, and the Rafha governorate, which was a station for pilgrims, and the archaeological sites in Lina, Luke and the historical village of Zabala.
