RIYADH — The Red Sea Development Company (TRSDC), which is building a huge tourism project on Saudi Arabia"s Red Sea coast, awarded an infrastructure works contract for an international airport located within the development. The contract was awarded to a joint venture between Saudi Arabia-based Nesma & Partners Contracting and Almabani General Contractors, the company said in a statement on Monday. The total value of the deal is not disclosed. “The Red Sea Development Company is making huge progress in the development of a world leading destination and by awarding our largest contract to date, we take another significant step in this direction, while demonstrating our ongoing commitment to creating opportunities within the Saudi Arabian construction sector,” said John Pagano, chief executive of The Red Sea Development Company. The Red Sea project is being developed over 28,000 sq. km of land and includes a vast archipelago of more than 90 islands. The destination also features mountain canyons, dormant volcanoes and ancient cultural and heritage sites. The first phase of the development will include 16 hotels offering 3,000 rooms, residential properties, leisure, commercial and entertainment amenities, a new airport and supporting infrastructure. “We are proud to be selected to contribute to the development of the Red Sea International Airport which we believe will play a key role in the transformation of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia by welcoming up to one million visitors per year to the destination by 2030,” Rami Alturki, vice chairman and board member at Nesma & Partners Contracting Company, said. The contract covers the construction of airside infrastructure works, including the design and building of a runway, pavement works, aeronautical navigational aids, helipads and roads. The design contract for the airport, which is set to open in 2022, was awarded to Foster + Partners in October 2019. The Red Sea Development Company, which is wholly-owned by the kingdom’s Public Investment Fund, has awarded contracts worth SR5.3 billion to date. Saudi Arabia is undertaking a number of projects spanning various sectors including real estate, entertainment and tourism as part of the Saudi Vision 2030 program that aims to diversify the economy away from oil. Other projects that are under construction include the $500 billion Neom business and industrial zone extending into Egypt and Jordan as well as a mega entertainment and sports destination, named Qiddiya. Tourism is expected to contribute more than 10 percent of Saudi Arabia’s gross domestic product by 2030 – up from 3 percent currently – and provide one million jobs. The country recently set up a $4 billion fund to develop the tourism industry. Qiddiya Investment Company, which is developing the Qiddiya project, is planning to award at least SR10 billion ($2.66 billion) worth of contracts to various companies this year to speed up the construction of the entertainment and sports projects at the site.