Work starts on new $2 bln Saudi heritage tourism project

Construction has commenced on a $2 billion Saudi heritage tourism project at Souq Okaz City in Taif, according to Arab News.

The new city will have heritage centres, museums, recreational areas and a convention centre with nearly 90 percent of the investment coming from the private sector.

The project will generate more than 15,000 jobs, 80 percent of which will be offered to young Saudis.

The city will also include housing facilities for about 750,000 people; an international airport with a capacity to handle 5 million passengers a year in its first phase; a technology hub implemented by King Abdul Aziz City for Science and Technology; Taif University, and an industrial city, the report added.

The city will have five main public-sector projects which include interactive museums, an Okaz Museum, an exhibition and convention center, a museum for the Souq Okaz monuments and Okaz park.

Prince Khaled Al-Faisal, governor of Makkah and adviser to King Salman, laid the foundation of the new project during celebrations for the opening of the 12th annual Souq Okaz.

The city is part of the National Transformation Program and is one of the main projects of the High Committee for Taif Development, and of the Two Holy Mosques program.