King Abdullah Economic City, June 2021: In line with its efforts to provide an inspiring living environment with world-class quality of life standards in the economic cities and special zones, the Economic Cities and Special Zones Authority (ECZA) participated in the World Environment Day celebrations this year, held under the theme “Reimagine, Recreate, Restore.” As part of its programs, ECZA organized a webinar titled “Ecosystem Restoration in the Economic Cities,” with a series of presentations by academics, environmental experts, and environmental policy officers of international companies located in King Abdullah Economic City (KAEC).

Several educational institutions and companies operating in KAEC participated in the webinar discussions. The opening session, titled “Soil Degradation: Effects on Ecosystem and Restoration Strategies,” began with a talk by Dr. Abdulaziz G. Alghamdi, Chairman of the Soil Sciences Department at King Saud University, in which he discussed Saudi Arabia’s efforts to combat desertification by adopting strategies and regulations in line with the national action programs of the UN Convention to Combat Desertification, as well as the Kingdom’s endeavors in terms of the rehabilitation and protection of forest ranges.

In a subsequent session, titled “Pfizer KAEC Ecosystem Restoration,” Pfizer’s representative, Mohannad Alqassim, discussed the company's successful endeavors to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from about 9,000 tons to 6,500 tons in the last three years (2017-2020) in its factory in KAEC, in addition to decreasing hazardous waste from about 98,000 kg to 82,000 kg and water consumption from about 40,000 m3 to 15,000 m3.

Another session titled “Ecosystem Restoration and Soil Stability in Conservation Systems,” featured Dr. Rashad Alghamdi, Assistant Manager of the Soil Testing Laboratory at the North Dakota State University in the United States, who emphasized that planting trees could potentially reduce air temperatures in the vicinity besides also reducing the soil temperature, increasing the water storage, and reducing wind erosion.

In the final session, Noha Rashad, the Environment, Sustainability, and Technical Training Leader at Mars Saudi Arabia, spoke about the company’s efforts to manage waste and stressed its commitment to preserving the planet’s resources by promoting sustainability within an integrated plan, taking responsibility for it, and benefiting from opportunities to enhance and improve the company’s impact on people and the planet.

About the Economic Cities and Special Zones Authority

The Economic Cities and Special Zones Authority (ECZA) was established by Royal Decree in 2010 with the mandate to provide full administrative and financial supervision over economic cities and special zones, including responsibility for regulating, supervising, and providing various highly efficient, integrated single-window government services for investors and residents.

Moreover, ECZA contributes to the realization of Vision 2030 by developing initiatives and innovative business models that promote public-private partnerships and support strategic initiatives and efforts to attract quality investments designed to spur economic cities and special zones and boost their value proposition.

ECZA’s vision is to make Saudi Arabia a globally attractive hub for high-value, long-term investments, based on the values of leadership, integrity, responsibility, partnership, and customer-centricity. It is also committed to creating and nurturing attractive social environments that guarantee residents and workers in the economic cities and special zones a high standard of living.

The role of ECZA is integral as a guiding hand for economic cities and special zones, and an attentive ear that listens to their needs and requirements to better enable them to achieve their objectives of diversifying the kingdom’s economy and creating quality jobs for young Saudi men and women.