For his part, Dr. Majed bin Abdullah Al-Hogail, Minister of Housing, affirmed that these agreements will contribute to provide housing units with high quality and suitable prices in addition to a creation of more than 15,000 jobs for the citizens through localization of these technologies in the Kingdom and building specialized plants. The Kingdom’s investment attraction and promotion strategy is accelerating under the INVEST SAUDI initiative, in line with the objectives of Vision 2030. It seeks to support and build awareness of the significant opportunities that Saudi Arabia offers to international, regional and local investors, led by the Saudi Arabian General Investment Authority (SAGIA) in collaboration with partners across government. Under INVEST SAUDI, FDI growth in the first half of 2018 expanded 90 percent versus same period last year, with the number of licenses nearly doubling by end of the third quarter. At the launch of the announcement, Mr. Ash Bhardwaj Sales, Program Management, Software Development, Katerra said, “This strategic partnership will introduce modern and rapid construction methods to Saudi Arabia. We expect that there will be a high demand for these technologies in line with the government’s approach to adopt sustainable and energy-saving systems. We look forward to partnering with the Ministry of Housing to provide rapid building solutions that fit the Kingdom's environment.” Mr. Wu Wenhao, Branch General Manager and Vice-President of PowerChina International Group Ltd, said: “We are excited by the increased housing demand in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the clear plan by the Ministry of Housing and Sakani Program to meet this demand in the Kingdom. We are delighted to be partnering with the Ministry of Housing to provide various types of residential units for the Kingdom’s citizens.” Mr. Hejing Gao, General Manager of Sany-Alameriah, said: “The high demand for housing in Saudi Arabia and the government’s direction to initiate partnerships with the private sector and stimulate foreign investment have created an attractive environment for investment in this sector. We look forward to initiating the partnership we have agreed with the Ministry of Housing to build thousands of housing units.” --SPA 17:40 LOCAL TIME 14:40 GMT 0020 www.spa.gov.sa/w775776