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Investment
in Arriyadh
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When the project is completed, Arriyadh will have been given
back its ancient heart, in a remarkable fusion of an ultramodern
metro system and the historic buildings that once sat at the core
of the Kingdom.
And this is not some vanity project. As the capital has grown
rapidly to embrace once seemingly distant settlements along
Wadi Hanifa such as Ad-Dirriyah, the ADA has always been
aware of the need to keep a focus on the central fountain from
which the city sprang. The public transport system, with its
integrated Metro and bus routes is the golden thread which is
designed to draw the capital closer together, even as it grows
outwards.
Education in the Capital
Learning lies at the heart of the Kingdom’s promotion of
a thriving non-oil sector economy. Almost a quarter of the
state budget is directed towards education, from kindergartens
through to higher education and postgraduate research. For
outstanding students there are bursaries provided by the King
Abdullah scholarship programme, to further their studies at top
foreign universities.
As the Saudi capital, Arriyadh is the leader of the drive to
provide a thorough educational and social grounding for young
people. According to 2013 figure from the Ministry of Higher
Education, almost a quarter of the 1.35 million advanced
students in the country are studying in the capital, at faculties
that boast some 30 percent of all the country’s lecturers.
There are more than 1,400 publicly-funded schools located
throughout the city with over 470,00 students. In addition,
the capital has 82 private schools, some of them international
including the British and American schools. There is also the
King Saud International School which was set up specifically for
the children of expatriates living and working in the capital.
There are also eight universities. Three are publicly-funded.
The oldest is the King Saud University, established in 1957,
which has produced generations of graduates who have gone
on to play significant roles in the Kingdom. There is also the
Imam Mohammed Bin Saud Islamic University and, on the
way to King Khaled International Airport, the Princess Nora
Bint Abdulrahman University (PNU) which provides higher
education, exclusively to young women. The campus of this
university is one of the largest in the world, so large indeed that
it has its own automatic light metro railway within the grounds.
This moves the students in the air-conditioned comfort of 22
two-car sets between their lectures, refectory and halls. The
PNU enrolled its first students in 2012. Eventually the roll will
number 50,000. There is residential accommodation for 12,000.
The metro line running to King Khaled International Airport is
to have a station stop at the university.
Also near the airport are two specialist academies just being
completed - the King Abdullah Petroleum Studies and Research
Center and the Prince Naif University for Security Sciences.
There are five private universities in Arriyadh: Alfaisal
University, Prince Sultan University, the Arriyadh branch of
the Arabic Open University, Al Yamamah University and the
Dar Al Uloom University. To these should be added five private
university-level colleges. These cover academies providing
medicine, including two dedicated to dentistry, science and
technology training. With the upsurge of the non-oil economy,
there has been a growing demand for technicians and engineers.
In response, the range of vocational institutes, provided by
both the government and the private sector has increased. A
good example, as the Kingdom continues its drive into the
higher-value added plastics production, is the Higher Institute
for Plastics Fabrication. This academy, jointly funded by the
state and the private sector, including a Japanese partner, began
teaching in 2008 and specialises in short courses.
Also in partnership with the private sector, there are colleges
dedicated to schooling in other discrete subjects, such as
the Saudi OGER Training Institute, automotive servicing,
computers, electronics and home appliances.
State-funded vocational education is run through the
General Organization for Technical Education and Vocational
Training (GOTEVOT). Its colleges include the Riyadh College
of Technology, the Telecommunications and Information
Technology College as well as a dedicated Technical and
Vocational training academy for women. This last, like the
Princess Nora Bint Abdulrahman University reveals the
importance that the Kingdom places on the role of women in the
development of the economy.
Healthcare in Arriyadh
As would be expected in a modern and wealthy capital,
Arriyadh is well-provided in terms of healthcare. There are
46 public hospitals providing free treatment to Saudi citizens.
These include the King Fahd Medical City, generally regarded as
the largest and best-equipped medical institution in the Middle
East, which also has its own medical faculty. Besides accident