Madinah offers more than just the Holy Mosque of the Prophet Muhammad. Modern Madinah is being expanded continiously to become a center of religious studies as well as tourism and knowledge based industries.
Knowledge Economic City
Knowledge Economic City of Madinah was launched by the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah bin AbdulAziz in June 2006 and is the third of six economic cities announced by Amr al Dabbagh, Governor of the Saudi Arabian General Investment Authority (SAGIA).
The 25 billion Riyal (USD7 billion) project is located at Al-Madinah, the home of Muhammad and where Qur'an was compiled. The project has special significance for Muslims throughout the world because of its location.
Knowledge Economic City is designed as a project to position Saudi Arabia and young Saudi Arabian entrepreneurs as internationally respected leaders in knowledge based industries and aims to attract and develop talent from around the world. It is intended to create opportunities on a global scale while providing investors and entrepreneurs with infrastructure, opportunity, a unique pool of talent and the potential for a healthy return on investment.
More than 20,000 jobs and accommodation for about 150,000 people will be created by the project which is expected to bring about 10 billion Riyals a year into the region once it is completed by 2020.
Since its launch KEC has signed Memoranda of Understanding and contracts with several local companies and with government and private sector organisations from Malaysia and Canada. The latest have been MoUs signed with Cisco and CompTIA . The Cisco MoU is intended to provide access to leading edge networking technologies, while the CompTIA signing is to ensure Knowledge Economic City knowledge workers with internationally recognised IT qualifications. Road shows and trade exhibitions are planned for several other countries in the coming months as KEC seeks to attract investors and joint venture partners to Medina.
KEC is expected to comprise:
- A centre for medical sciences and bio-technology
- A high-tech park for knowledge-based industries, research centres and scientific development
- An educational/entertainment park themed around the heritage of Muhammad
- An educational technical and management institute
- A new, world-class business district for Madinah
- A major retail hub themed after the old souks of Madinah
The Seerah Land Theme Park will offer visitors of all ages, interests and cultural background a unique and unforgettable journey back into history.
Using the latest multimedia, laser and digital technologies it will explore the history and heritage of Muhammad and Islamic civilization including:
- The lives of the prophets
- The legacy of Muhammad
- The dynasties of Islamic civilization
- The contribution of Muslim civilization to the world knowledge
The KEC project also includes the creation of a new business hub for Al Madinah which will be provided with the latest smart infrastructure and complementary business support services to create a more competitive environment. It will be able accommodate up to 10,000 employees.
A major retail hub themed after the old souks of Al-Madinah is to be developed and includes provision for 1,200 shops.
