page_title: King Abdullah Economic City
section_title: Developments
hierarchical_section_title: King Abdullah Economic City / Developments
caption_attribution_description: English: A house in Bay La Sun Village, KAEC, Saudi Arabia.
context_page_description: King Abdullah Economic City is a megaproject announced in 2005 by king Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, the then-king of Saudi Arabia.
context_section_description: On June 12, 2008, King Abdullah visited the city and evaluated the progress. He also inaugurated projects and initiatives with a total worth of  $35 billion (SR 130 billion). These projects include:
  Science and Research Complex
  Columbia University
  Thunderbird University
  Environment Protection Centre
  Ethraa, The Smart City
  Health Care City
  KAEC Media City
  The Cadre Technical City
  EMAL International Aluminum Smelter factory
  Total Oil factory
  Holiday Inn Express Hotel
  Ritz-Carlton Hotel & Resort
  The king also inaugurated the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST). The university is 20 km away south of the city in the village of Thuwal. It opened in September 2009.
  According to the Saudi Real Estate Companion, 2015 was a key milestone for the project given the number of residential and commercial projects that were handed over. This was largely seen as a success given that total residential sales in 2014 and 2015 amounted to around 2,500 units.
  Emaar, E.C. and SAGIA have  signed several memoranda of understanding (MoUs) and contracts with international and local developers in many fields. These developers include:
  Orange Business Services, is trusted advisor to the project and will oversee the design of the Smart City telecoms services.
  Ericsson, to supply, build, integrate operate and manage multiplay end-to-end fixed broadband network.
  Cisco Systems, to design infrastructure for IT networks in the city.
  GEMS World Academy, to design, build, and operate the first school in the city which will be opened by September 2009.
  StrateSphere Enterprises and PolymerOhio, to develop KAEC Plastics Valley.
  CEMCCO, to develop infrastructure for the Industrial Zone.
  DP World, to develop KAEC Sea Port to be the largest in the Red Sea and one of the top 10 largest ports in the world with a capacity to handle 20 million TEU (twenty foot equivalent container units).
  Mars GCC, to establish its own manufacturing facility in the Industrial Zone.
  Capri Capital Partners, to develop a mixed-use project with a total worth of $2 billion (SR 7.5 billion).
  Freyssinet Saudi Arabia, to develop the Business Park at Bay La Sun Village.
  Saudi Binladin Group, to construct 16 residential towers within Bay La Sun Village. The towers are scheduled for completion in September 2009.
  Siemens, to undertake the electrical transmission and distribution (T&D) works for the first phase of KAEC. The work is scheduled to be completed by 2010.
  Emaar, E.C has also launched two residential areas, Bay La Sun Village, and Esmeralda Suburb which includes a golf community. Both of the areas received an overwhelming response from investors. Bay La Sun is in itself a fully integrated community that includes several new initiatives including:
  Raffles International School.
  Bay La Sun Business Park.
  Bay La Sun Hotel and Mall, which were also inaugurated by the king when he visited the city.
caption: A house in Esmeralda
exif: {}