Saudi Arabia will invest 40 billion riyals ($10.6 billion) in developing local infrastructure projects, announced the Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs and Housing. Under the new agreement, nearly 90 million square meters will be allocated for the local infrastructure projects to provide over 150,000 housing units across 11 cities in an effort to accommodate around 750,000 people. In addition, nearly 54 million square meters will be allocated for public areas, facilities, parks, road networks and public transport. The agreement was signed on the sidelines of a housing exhibition organized by the Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs and Housing in Riyadh, under the patronage of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz. The exhibition is set to run until September 28. The deal was signed in the presence of Minister of Housing Majid al-Hogail, Minister of Tourism Ahmed bin Aqeel Al-Khateeb, Minister of Environment, Water and Agriculture Abdulrahman al-Fadley, and Minister of Transport and Logistics Services Saleh Al-Jasser. The housing ministry was represented by Undersecretary for Real Estate Development Abdul Rahman bin Abdullah Al-Taweel, while the National Housing Company was represented by CEO of NHC Eng Mohammad bin Saleh Al-Bati. The company is the leading enabler of the real estate development sector and the largest major developer of suburbs and residential communities, and aims to increase the real estate supply in the Kingdom with various housing options. This comes as part of the company’s efforts to achieve the objectives of the housing program as part of the Kingdom’s Vision 2030, by raising the proportion of housing ownership for Saudi families to 70 percent.