The Saudi ministry of transport held in London today an international conference promoting the railways project which links Dammam with Jeddah through Riyadh.
Alarge number of representatives of giant international companies took part in the event.
Also present were the Saudi Minister of Transport Dr. Jubarah Al-Suraisiri and senior Saudi embassy staff members who are based in London.
In a key address, Al-Suraisiri reminded his audience that Saudi Arabia had witnessed the building of railways from the early days of its founder late King Abdulaziz bin Abdulrahman Al Saud, when a line linking the capital city of Riyadh with the country's eastern port city of Dammam was constructed.
The minister highlighted the role of transportation sector in the Saudi economy, noting that the Kingdom has built a vast land, air and sea transportation network.
Most recently, the Supreme Economic Council has decided that the railway be extended from Dammam to Jeddah through Riyadh to meet the increasing need for goods and passenger traffic across the continent-like country.
He said the standards and financial and administrative requirements of the business were accomplished while the estimation for the cost of this work is expected to b completed by mid 2005.
The minister told the conference that firstly the Saudi cabinet has transferred the powers of ports and railways authorities to theMinister of Transport and secondly that the Saudi government is set to follow privatization of most of its investment and productive sectors in the fields of communications, electricity and gas. Railways come within this process, he added.
He vowed that work will continue to update and renovate the administrative and legal systems to open the way for wider participation of the private sector in the Kingdom and foreign investors to enter the local investment market in a more flexible way.
The next speaker was the President of Railways Eng. Khalid Yahya. In response to a question on whether Saudi companies will be asked to take part in the project, he said that the matter will be decided by the market, noting that there are major, well-qualified local companies which have gained rich experience during the economic boom.
