SAUDI ARABIA plans to increase the number of its industrial cities to 30 in the next five years, a local newspaper reported.

Saudi Industrial Property Authority (Modon) director general Tawfig Fawzan Alrabiah was quoted by the Arab News as saying that the kingdom will double the area occupied by industrial cities to 150 million sq m in the coming five years.
Modon, which oversees 20 industrial cities across Saudi Arabia, is experiencing strong demand for industrial land, the report said.

More than 500 plots of lands were allocated in 2008 and the number increased to 800 plots in 2009, and was expected to hit 1,000 plots by the end of 2010, it said.

Modon recently signed an infrastructure contract for Taif Industrial City, which is being developed over an area of 11 million sq m. The first phase, covering an area of 3 million sq m, will be developed over 18 months and is expected to accommodate approximately 150 factories.

Taif Industrial City will be the first of its kind in the province and complement other industrial cities in the Makkah region, which include the First and Second Jeddah industrial cities and Makkah Industrial City.