Arab News cited Mr Zaidan Mohamed O Yousef CEO of MMC Saudi Arabia Company Limited as saying that Jazan Economic City has begun major construction work at the site.

There is a huge response from investors for JEC projects. JEC has signed deals worth SAR 100 billion since its launch in 2006. JEC is attracting major investments from the Far East, especially China.

Mr Zaidan said that primary and heavy industry will drive more investments in JEC with plans in hand for a privately owned oil refinery, a steel cluster, an iron ore trading hub and a palletizing plant, a slab and bloom plant and an aluminum smelter complex. JEC has already concluded deals with various international and local companies to execute these investments according to its master plan and strategic location on the Red Sea which will facilitate importing and exporting goods.

He said that investors in JEC were allowed 100% ownership of their projects within the city. Also the specific tax incentives are attracting investors from all over the world. The JEC which will be built over 20 years in phases has so far attracted USD 5 billion worth of investment from China. He added that "With the full support of the government, the JEC is in the process of implementation of various projects and very soon we will see major construction activities on site."

Mr Zaidan said that a new deep sea port will be built in order to support the cargo import and export needs of the industries coming up into JEC. The port would be designed to handle ultra large vessels that will import various types of raw materials in bulk and also export processed products from the industries. The types of cargoes the JEC port can handle include dry bulk, liquid bulk, containers and break bulk. He said that "The JEC has completed a full survey of operational channels and we have received approval from the International Maritime Organization."

As part of JEC port development, a new deep sea navigational route was proposed to link the port to the main international shipping lanes in the Red Sea. The proposed navigation route was approved by the Ministry of Transport and subsequently by IMO.

Mr Zaidan said that this means that the proposed deep sea navigation route meets with the stringent maritime navigation safety requirements of IMO especially for ultra large vessels. The implementation of this deep sea navigation route will enable vessels up to 350,000 DWT to call at JEC port. This will support the requirements of Jazan refinery project''s imports of crude oil.

He said that the JEC developers had engaged Halcrow Group Limited for the detailed engineering design of JEC port. The phase 1 development of JEC port would see the construction of at least 2 multi purpose berths, 2 liquid product berths and a single buoy mooring. The port will contribute to the provision of job opportunities in various fields related to cargo, storage and all support and logistical services.

Mr Zaidan said that South Steel Company has recently received a loan of SAR 600 million from Saudi Industrial Development Fund which is considered one of the largest loans granted by the fund for the industrial iron and steel sector in the Kingdom this year. He said that the company had already signed several agreements with some strategic partners and other contracts with major international companies for supplying state of the art equipment and machinery. The project aims to cover the Saudi market''s increasing demand on steel.

Meanwhile Mr Zaidan said that JEC has entered the economic transformation torrent by beginning the actual execution of projects. The city will work on adding more projects to the region and the surrounding governorates in order to develop the humanitarian and economic sides of the area in real estate investments, both residential and commercial.