King Salman to launch 7 development and service projects in Madinah

Dar Al-Hijrah is one of the major projects under construction in Madinah. (SPA)
Updated 10 November 2017
Follow

King Salman to launch 7 development and service projects in Madinah

MADINAH: The visit of King Salman to the Madinah region carries wide prospects for the future of the city of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him). The visit will launch a number of development and service projects that will support economic development in the city and enhance social and economic growth.

Madinah is undergoing many large-scale developments in accommodation, education, transport, health, and infrastructure, as well as a number of other projects that aim to provide better services for pilgrims visiting the Prophet’s Mosque.
Dar Al-Hijrah is one of the major projects under construction in Madinah, and it will include the administrative offices of Hajj missions and guides, the General Cars Syndicate, a travel agency, medical missions and a number of other services. It will also include a luggage transportation station that will enable pilgrims to check their luggage and receive it in their home countries.
The area of the Dar Al-Hijrah project is about 1,600,000 square meters, and it is a few kilometers away from the Prophet’s Mosque. The capacity of the projects is about 120,000 people, and it can be considered a small city with integrated services. The cost of the project is about SR55 billion ($14.7 billion).
Dar Al-Hijrah comprises 100 towers: 20 administrative and 80 residential towers. These towers will have comfortable and secure residences for pilgrims. There will also be 76 four-star hotels and six five-star hotels, which will offer 40,000 rooms to pilgrims from different nations. There will also be a hospital with a capacity of 400 beds to serve the project and the surrounding area. There will be a transit center to transport pilgrims to and from the Prophet’s Mosque via an elevated railway above the level of roads. The project will create 31,000 job opportunities.
The project comprises three phases. Work on the first phase, to build infrastructure, started in July 2014, while the second phase will focus on building administrative offices, as well as offices for the Ministry of Hajj and the Central Hajj Committee. The third phase will be dedicated to building residential towers.
The Haramain High-Speed Rail project in Madinah is located about five kilometers away from the Prophet’s Mosque, and it has been built on an area of 147,000 square meters. The cost of the station is SR1,545,822,769, and it is one of five stations along the line which will cover 450 kilometers ­— from Makkah to Madinah — and is expected to transport about 3 million passengers annually between Makkah, Madinah, Jeddah and King Abdullah Economic City.
The station will be a new gate serving pilgrims after the official opening of the new Prince Mohammed bin Abdul Aziz Airport. The number of journeys will be around seven trains every hour — off Hajj season — between Makkah and Jeddah, and two journeys every hour between Makkah and Madinah, bringing the daily total number of journeys to 36, carrying around 15,000 passengers. The number of journeys may increase later on.
The Haramain rail station in Madinah includes services and facilities for passengers that have been prepared according to international standards for high-speed trains. The main building includes terminals for arrivals and departures, a VIP lounge, a mosque that can accommodate up to 1,000 worshippers, a civil defense center, a helipad, train platforms, waiting area and two car parks.
Wahat Al-Qur’an (The Oasis of the Qur’an) is another major project in Madinah. This historical, educational and cultural project, which will be built on an area of 200,000 square meters, will be like a museum and cultural center for teaching Qur’an employing state-of-the-art technology.
The project includes an exhibition hall, special teaching sections for men and women, a Qur’an library, a conference center, a research center for Qur’an studies, a research department, as well as administrative sections, a public square and gardens, a support services center, and a car park.
The king will also launch Islamic University projects, with a total cost of SR843 million; projects of General Directorate of Education in Madinah, with a total cost of SR341 million; projects for the General Administration of Water Services in Madinah, with a total cost of SR235 million; projects for Taibah University, with a total cost of SR260 million; projects for Saudi Electricity Company, with a total cost of SR1 billion; projects for Madinah municipality with a total cost of SR1 billion, as well as projects for health affairs in Madinah, with a total cost of SR500 million.


Sudan’s army chief receives Saudi deputy foreign minister in Port Sudan

Sudan’s army chief Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan receives Saudi Arabia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Waleed Al-Khuraiji in Port Sudan.
Updated 05 November 2024
Follow

Sudan’s army chief receives Saudi deputy foreign minister in Port Sudan

  • During the meeting, Al-Khuraiji stressed the keenness of the Kingdom’s leadership on restoring security and stability in Sudan

RIYADH: Sudan’s army chief Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan received Saudi Arabia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Waleed Al-Khuraiji in Port Sudan on Tuesday.

During the meeting, Al-Khuraiji stressed the keenness of the Kingdom’s leadership on restoring security and stability in Sudan.

The minister’s visit to the country comes as part of the Kingdom’s ongoing efforts to address the crisis in Sudan, reach a ceasefire, and restore stability to the country. 

The Kingdom continues to support the humanitarian response efforts to alleviate the suffering of the Sudanese people, Saudi Press Agency said. 


Saudi pavilion at UNESCO Arab Week in Paris celebrates Kingdom’s camel culture

Updated 05 November 2024
Follow

Saudi pavilion at UNESCO Arab Week in Paris celebrates Kingdom’s camel culture

  • It shows how the role of the camel evolved from essential means of transport and provider of resources to a cultural icon embodying the Kingdom’s values

PARIS: The Saudi pavilion at UNESCO’s Arab Week event in Paris this week featured a showcase of the Kingdom’s deep-rooted connection to camel culture.

It explored the role of the animals as a vital part of the nation’s heritage, identity and civilization, and offered a glimpse into their enduring place in society, the Saudi Press Agency reported on Tuesday.

The exhibits showed how the role of the camel has evolved from essential means of transport and provider of resources to a cultural icon that embodies the Kingdom’s values, and the ways in which camels are embedded in Saudi customs, traditions and literature, including poetry and proverbs.

The Saudi Ministry of Culture designated 2024 “The Year of the Camel” to highlight and reinforce the status of the animal as a national symbol and cornerstone of the Arabian cultural identity. Camels are regularly celebrated across the country through dedicated festivals, race events, clubs and research centers.

UNESCO’s Arab Week, which features 22 Arab nations, was initiated by Saudi Arabia. Guests at the official opening of the event on Monday included Saudi envoys, ambassadors representing other nations, Arab and other international diplomats stationed in France, and officials from UNESCO.


AI makes media industry more efficient and drives growth, expert says

Martin Sorrell, founder and executive chairman of S4 Capital, speaks to Arab News at the Athar Festival of Creativity.
Updated 05 November 2024
Follow

AI makes media industry more efficient and drives growth, expert says

  • Martin Sorrell: ‘AI speeds up writing processes, increasing efficiency’
  • New tech allows for increasingly personalized content

RIYADH: Artificial intelligence is being used more effectively and efficiently to drive higher economic development in the media industry, said Martin Sorrell, founder and executive chairman of S4 Capital.

At a panel session at the Athar Festival of Creativity Sorrell described how media agencies, such as S4 Capital and its subsidiary, Media.Monks, are using AI in a number of ways.

One application of AI in media, he said, is in “speeding the execution of copywriting and visualization.”

Time to market is drastically decreasing: “What took us literally days is now taking us three hours,” he said. Yet this produces another problem because reducing the time of procurement cuts costs, but this also means it is necessary to move to a model that increases gains in outputs,” he said.

Another application is in personalizing content for consumers. Sorrell told Arab News: “Individualization, hyper personalization, are going to become more important. Knowing the consumer in excruciating detail, using data, using the signals from the platforms, using first-party data, it becomes even more important.”

Using Netflix audience feedback algorithms as an example, Sorrell pointed out that AI enables these algorithms to produce larger and more accurate quantities of output, for example, recommendations based on user profile readings.

“We charge on a per asset used basis. Price of the asset may come down, but total revenue grows because we’re using multiple assets,” he said.

A growing area is in “media planning and buying.” Sophisticated algorithms can far more efficiently choose the distribution of planning and buying than individual media planners.

Technological capital and human capital, however, go hand in hand.

“We as agencies have to validate the algorithm’s analysis. We have to make sure that the client’s money is spent in the right way.”

Another benefit of AI is its ability to improve organizational efficiency. Where organizational silos once kept departments and specializations separate, AI opens up information to the majority of users.

To maintain the emotional connection and trust of the brand-consumer relationship in a technologically driven world, according to Sorrell, understanding individual motivation is increasingly crucial.

“Insights into culture, insights into language, into custom, into belief, into family, into country, that knowledge becomes critically important, far more so in a globalized world,” he said.

The diversity and knowledge of global and local organizations are essential for the success of any company, but the value of personalization means that local knowledge may take the lead, he added.

Quoting Harvard Business School professor Ted Levitt, Sorrell continued: “because remember, consumers will consume everything in the same way everywhere.”

Advising young professionals in tech, media and other industries operating in an AI-powered future, Sorrell said that rather than stripping away opportunities from creatives, avoiding the risk of “bombarding” consumers with much of the same, AI means “creativity becomes even more important.”

Additionally, creatives need to familiarize themselves with the skills and roles that are complementary to the new world: “I think every creative should learn Chinese. I think every creative should learn Spanish, probably Arabic too … and they should learn code.”

“The skills of the ‘Mad Men’, that Don Draper had or his colleagues … are very different to what you need now.”


Saudi Arabia has launched 22 new routes this year as part of tourism drive, ACP’s CEO says

The CEO of the Air Connectivity Program Majid Khan speaks at the Umrah+ Connect event in London on Monday November 4, 2024. (AN
Updated 05 November 2024
Follow

Saudi Arabia has launched 22 new routes this year as part of tourism drive, ACP’s CEO says

  • Kingdom has attracted 12 new airlines to date in 2024

LONDON: Saudi Arabia has launched 22 new routes from various destinations to the Kingdom this year, increasing tourist seating capacity by nearly 2 million, the CEO of the Air Connectivity Program has said.

Speaking at the Umrah+ Connect business-to-business event in London on Monday, Majid Khan said the Kingdom had attracted 12 new airlines to date in 2024.

Khan said: “There has been good expansion out of the UK. Virgin Atlantic is going to start daily flights from Heathrow to Riyadh in March; British Airways launched flights to Jeddah yesterday; Wizz Air will also be operating Gatwick to Jeddah flights daily.

“We are definitely focusing on our own carriers as well, because they are definitely our first priority; Flynas, flyadeal, Saudia, and Riyadh Air in the future.

“But we are also proactively working with international carriers in order to help us to get a higher share of inbound tourism to the Kingdom, as they have their sales and marketing channels in this part of the world.

“We know that the majority of BA travelers are not Saudis. They are actually travelers from the UK market, from their network in Europe and North America.”

Saudi Arabia has a strong, strategic location and travelers can reach more than half of the world within a six-hour flight, Khan said. He added that the ACP was working to deliver 150 million tourists to the Kingdom as part of Saudi Vision 2030.

He said: “Saudi Arabia is like one continent. We have 1,700 km of coastline, the new Maldives that’s actually the Red Sea, the two holiest sites for Muslims in the world, and mountainous regions.

“In the south we have Abha and Jazan, which I would personally call the Switzerland of Saudi Arabia. So it’s definitely an untouched wonder.”

An exhibition at the event highlighted new tourism developments in the Kingdom that British pilgrims can enjoy, including religious sites and activities that promote an understanding of Saudi cultural heritage.

Khan said the ACP was trying to revolutionize the way pilgrims travel, allowing them to holiday in the Kingdom after performing their religious rituals.

He said: “If we take the UK market, travelers typically have one Umrah ticket in their pocket to perform the minor pilgrimage with their family and friends. They then come back again to the UK, and have a separate ticket to either Dubai, Istanbul, or Malaga.

“This is something we would like to change. Travelers can perform Umrah, see the sacred places, and then save their tickets and continue to travel around the Kingdom. That’s the way we try to position Saudi Arabia.”

Rashid Mohammed, the organizer of Umrah+ Connect, said that Monday’s event had provided an opportunity for Umrah travel agents to network and grow their businesses.

Rashid Mohammed, the organizer of Umrah+ Connect (fourth from right), poses with the team from the Pilgrim Experience Program. (Umrah+ Connect)

Mohammed said: “We’ve brought you a diverse experience here in London, and it’s for you to use these tools, through connecting with people, to create packages that enhance and enrich pilgrim experiences.

“We’re also grateful for the support of the Ministry of Hajj and Umrah, and the Umrah and Ziyarah Forum, who are here today and have really backed us to put on this show.”


Saudi minister receives German foreign ministry official

Updated 05 November 2024
Follow

Saudi minister receives German foreign ministry official

  • Discussions focused on enhancing relations, regional and international developments and issues of common concern

RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s Deputy Minister for Political Affairs Saud Al-Sati received Gregory Bledjian, head of the Middle East division at the German Foreign Ministry, and several accompanying officials, in Riyadh on Tuesday.

During the meeting, they discussed ways to enhance relations, regional and international developments, and issues of common interest, the Foreign Ministry wrote on X.

Meanwhile, Shoura Council Speaker Dr. Abdullah bin Mohammed Al-Asheikh received Turkiye’s Ambassador to the Kingdom Emrullah Isler in Riyadh on Tuesday, the Saudi Press Agency reported.