A 30 to 40 per cent fall in construction costs in Saudi Arabia is speeding up the development of Saudi Arabia’s Economic Cities.

Although the economic downturn has lead to the shelving of a number of major projects elsewhere in the world, it has led to a significant opportunity for Saudi Arabia’s Economic Cities to develop at an increasing rate.

“The global economic slowdown has presented a great deal of opportunities including depressed prices of building materials and surplus capacities in construction companies, equipment and human capital,” said Amr Al Dabbagh, governor of the Saudi Arabian General Investment Authority (Sagia) recently in an interview at the InterAction Council meeting.

“All these challenges were there six months ago but now we are talking about a cost advantage for construction between 30 and 40 percent. Now the challenge is how much we can do in 24 hours a day, seven days a week.”

“Saudi Arabia is the most cost effective production location on the face of the earth for energy intensive industries and a great launch pad as a hub between east and west to cater to 250 million consumers within 3 hours flying time from the center of Saudi Arabia,” Al Dabbagh added.

The King Abdullah Economic City, the largest of Saudi Arabia’s economic cities, is ahead of schedule to complete its first phase of construction by 2012. – TradeArabia News Service