RIYADH: At least SR10 billion ($2.66 billion) worth of contracts will awarded to various companies to speed up the construction of a mega entertainment and sports project in the Saudi capital Riyadh, the Qiddiya Investment Company announced on Thursday. The funding will be backed by the Kingdoms Public Investment Fund. The Qiddiya project includes a number of art, entertainment and sporting facilities, and is being built on a 334 square-kilometre site close to Riyadh. Its construction forms part of Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 program that aims to diversify the Kingdom’s economy. “We’ve awarded well over 1 billion riyal in contracts so far and that figure is going to jump, maybe ten times to 10 billion riyals, which will all be construction related contracts,” Michael Reininger, chief executive told The National.