A company owned by a Saudi  Arabian prince is planning to invest around $5 billion in  telecoms, construction and industrial projects in Sudan, state  media reported.

Sudan's Suna state news agency said officials from the company run by Prince Bandar bin Khalid were looking into  setting up a fourth mobile phone network in Sudan and building  waste recycling plants in Khartoum state.

The prince was also interested in building residential  properties around Khartoum's new airport site and a $350  million hospital for the armed forces, Suna reported his  officials as saying.

The report did not say about how far each plan had  progressed, give any more detail about their scope or name any  potential partners.

Suna said the head of the delegation from for the prince's  Egyptian and Saudi Arabian Company for Investment and  Development, Sayed Azab Al Wakil, told reporters the recycling  factories would produce power and employ 10,000 people.

The party, which arrived in Sudan on Wednesday, was  planning to sign contracts for some of the projects during its  visit, reported Suna.

The Khartoum government has been trying to diversify its  economy and attract fresh investments from the Middle East in  the build up to a Jan. 9 referendum that is expected to see  its oil- producing south split away as an independent country.

There are currently three companies with country-wide  mobile phone licences - South Africa's MTN, Zain of Kuwait and  Sudan's own Sudani. Two other telecoms companies have licenses  for the semi-autonomous south. - Reuters