Saudi Gazette Report

RIYADH — Mayor of the Riyadh region Prince Faisal Bin Abdulaziz Bin Ayyaf said that around 85 percent of the Saudi population is concentrated in the cities of Saudi Arabia.

"This is a very high number compared to the past half a century when the percentage at that time did not exceed 10 percent.

“The speed in urbanization illustrates the importance of cities and their great role at the global level,” he said while highlighting that the economic success of major cities leads to the full success of countries.

The mayor said this while addressing a dialogue session titled “The role of investments in building Gulf and Arab cities” at the recently concluded Municipal Investment Forum (FURAS).

The forum was held under the slogan of ‘Opportunities create the future’ at the Riyadh Convention and Exhibition Center.

Prince Faisal said that the means of transportation, technology, and the Internet are the factors that help augment urbanization.

“Riyadh has moved from competing locally in terms of investment, capital, and talents to competing internationally. Graduates of Saudi universities have become coveted by international companies thanks to the level of transportation, technology, and globalization achieved by the city where they live,” he said.

“We always try to compete on international quality, driven by a strong domestic economy, good social and economic conditions, security, and safety. We worked on two factors to increase competitiveness in Riyadh.

“The first is the quality of life as we attract high talents and we are supposed to have a high standard of living to keep pace with these shifts,” he said, adding that the other factor is to provide the surrounding conditions in terms of systems, legislation, and laws that help this competitiveness.

Prince Faisal revealed that Riyadh Mayoralty has achieved financial sustainability for all operational processes of cleaning, maintenance, and operation at an initial stage.

“The long-term goal is to achieve full sustainability in major and capital projects,” he said while pointing out that achieving sustainability is represented in raising efficiency and evaluating expenditures.

The investment climate was impacted at the beginning of privatization due to an increase in the number of fines, the mayor said while noting that this was due to an increase in field inspections.

“Those tasked to carry out inspections were eager to cash in on special incentives while slapping fines for violations,” he said, adding that necessary measures were taken to rectify this matter.