Saudi Aramco, the world's biggest oil producer, is seeking international partners to build and run a mall and hotels in a 10,000-home project at Dhahran in the country's Eastern Province, said a report.

The project, a first from Aramco, will see the state oil gaint take a direct role in constructing accommodation for its employees.

The first phase with about 3,000 homes is expected to be completed by 2018, while the rest will be finished by 2024, reported the Gulf Times, citing an official of property expert JLL, which is helping the company locate partners.

The Aramco plan includes the development of a 240,000-sq-m shopping mall, a suq, three business hotels and gas stations.

JLL has already started talking to several international developers in the US, Germany, the UK, Italy and China in this connection, Michael Heitmann, the head of strategic consulting in Middle East and North Africa at JLL, was quoted as saying in the report.

The Saudi oil giant is also planning to build an industrial city in Al Ahsa on a 50-sq-km area in the Eastern Province, which will be focused on attracting energy-related companies, stated Heitmann.

The project is set to include universities, laboratories and a dry port connecting to the railway as well as homes, offices and some retail facilities, he added.