Off the wire
• China's large airliner expects maiden flight in first half of 2017  • Western Australian opposition wants to build 2.54 billion dollar railway system  • Tokyo shares close higher on upbeat U.S. job data, gains in financial shares  • Hong Kong players shine in Davis Cup Asia-Oceania zone round one  • China's Yancoal acquires Australian coal assets of Rio Tinto  • Brady leads Patriots to Super Bowl comeback win in overtime  • Japan's average monthly wages see 1st annual rise in 5 years in 2016  • Urgent: 3,498 civilians killed in Afghan violence in 2016  • Serbia beats Russia to qualify for quarterfinals of Davis Cup  • S. Korean gov't examination finds battery defects in fiery Samsung Galaxy Note 7 phones  
You are here: 　 Home

27 Saudi airports to be operated by private companies from mid 2018

Xinhua, February 6, 2017 Adjust font size:

The 27 Saudi airports will be fully privatize by the middle of 2018 to make airports independent bodies, Al Sharq Al Awsat newspaper reported on Monday.

Saudi Civil Aviation highlighted to the newspaper that the privatization plan will increase the asset values of these airports and attract huge foreign investments.

Deputy Chairman of the Civil Aviation, Dr Faisal Al Saqeer, expected that the foreign investments are expected to represent 75 percent in some of the airports.

Saudi Arabia announced last week a plan to privatize 16 government authorities as part of the economic vision 2030. This is the first phase of the privatization program, while they were chosen among 147 government organizations and 85 state projects.

The privatization plan aims to cut the government expenditure by reducing the operational cost of running various organisations and promote the role of the private sector as important contributors to the GDP.

Saudi Arabia, which is taking solid steps to get ready for the post oil era, hopes the privatization plan will attract local and foreign investments. Endite