The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud launched the new Jazan Economic City (JEC), a project expected to attract over $27 billion in investments.

The inauguration was attended by Saudi and foreign dignitaries, including former Prime Minister of Malaysia Dr Mahathir Mohamad.
The project is facilitated by the Saudi Arabian General Investment Authority (Sagia), which plays the role of regulator and promoter of economic cities in the Kingdom.  
Located 725 km south of Jeddah, on the Red Sea, Jazan Economic City will cover over 100 million square metres of land and include a seaport, an industrial zone, a commercial business district, residential areas, public amenities such as hospitals and schools, as well as other academic and vocational training institutions.
“JEC is another major step in the Kingdom’s drive towards economic diversification. The city’s strategic location and its focus on heavy industry will allow the Kingdom to become a global player in metals processing. In addition, its focus on providing logistics and support services to local fisheries and agribusiness will expand these industries to become regional and global players,” said Amr Al Dabbagh, Governor of Sagia.
“The various sectors of Jazan Economic City will create up to 500,000 direct and indirect employment opportunities. Furthermore, part of the investment is the educational zone, which will include institutions dedicated to training skilled labor for targeted sectors of industry,” Al Dabbagh added.
Due to its strategic location along one of the world’s major shipping lines, the 3.3 million square metre multipurpose port will become one of the largest in the Kingdom and a hub for the transportation of goods on the Red Sea, as well as between Africa, Asia, the Mediterranean and the Indian Ocean.
“The new city’s industrial zone, which represents more than two-thirds of the project, will accommodate such industries as a modern-planned oil refinery and integrated petrochemical complex, a 500,000 tonnes per annum steel rebar and DRI, a copper refinery and smelter, an aluminum complex with a capacity of 700,000 tonnes per year (tpy) and integrated alumina refinery with a production capacity of 1.4 million tpy.
The city will also have its own power and desalination plant, with a planned generating capacity of 4,000 mega watts. The industrial zone will also include fisheries and an agro industry to develop local agro industry,” explained Syed Abdul Jabbar Shahabudin, chairman of MMC Group, the master developer of JEC, along with the Saudi Binladin Group (SBG).
Modern residential complexes and entertainment facilities are planned including sea front view that should provide attractive investment opportunities for real estate developers. 
The residential area will accommodate some 250,000 people in housing designed for all income levels.
JEC will be jointly developed by the Saudi Binladin Group and Malaysia’s MMC Group, as the two master developers for the entire complex. The viability of JEC’s value proposition has been validated by approximately $6 billion of anchor industrial investments already committed to the city.
The anchor projects include an alumina refinery, an aluminum smelter complex (total investment of US$ 4 billion led by Chinese and other international investors), a steel rebar facility and DRI, as well as dry dock and fishery complexes.