SPARK to generate 100,000 jobs; engineering designs halfway: Aramco

King Salman Energy Park’s (SPARK) long-term economic effect is expected to result in 100,000 direct and indirect jobs, Saudi Aramco said in a statement on its website.

The park is also seen to localize more than 350 new industrial and service facilities, and establish an industrial base that facilitates innovation, development, and global competition, it said.

Construction began in September 2017, and the completion rate for the whole project’s engineering designs are more than halfway complete. Investors’ plot allocations took place during Q3 2018, and the first phase as a whole will be completed in 2021.  

Negotiations are underway with more than 120 industrial investors in the initial phase, the statement said.

As the developing company, Saudi Aramco will make SPARK its drilling and workover operation headquarters, and home to a supply chain management center.

With manufacturing and service activities ranging from equipment for drilling, electrical services, and liquids treatment; exploration and production services; to pipes, vessels, tanks, valves, and pumps, SPARK will be the catalyst for Vision 2030, the statement added.

According to data compiled by Argaam, the 50-square-kilometer energy city will be constructed at between Dammam and Al-Hasa, and it will be built in three phases.

The project includes five main zones; the industrial zone, the dry port, the business district, the training area, and the commercial and residential zone.