The southwest region is among the kingdom’s most deprived areas, with little indigenous industry and few natural resources to draw upon except for fishing and food processing.

Malaysia’s MMC Group and the local Saudi Binladin Group are responsible for the development of the city, which is overseen by Saudi Arabian General Investment Authority (Sagia). Previous plans have included a port, an industrial zone, a commercial business district, residential areas, hospitals and schools, as well as other academic and vocational training institutions, in a 103-square-kilometre area located 60 kilometres northwest of Jizan city.

To date, the only real progress that has been made is the construction of a steel plant, and no major investment has been made in the city’s infrastructure.

After a period of inactivity, some projects are beginning to be pushed through at JEC in the metals and oil refining sectors. With those schemes will come major works at the port, as well as a major power station.

The largest project is the $7bn Jizan oil refinery, which is being developed by Saudi Aramco. The facility will have a capacity of 400,000 barrels a day (b/d) when it is completed in 2017 and will be wholly owned by Aramco.

Due to the distance between the oil fields and Jizan, crude oil and the subsequent refined products will not be transferred by pipeline, but will enter and leave exclusively through the marine terminal.

Saudi firm Cristal Global has also started work on a $433m project that will see Finland’s Outotec build an ilmenite smelting facility at JEC. Upon completion in 2014, the plant will have a capacity of 500,000 tonnes a year (t/y) of titanium dioxide slag, as well as 235,000 t/y of high-purity pig iron.

Other schemes such as a $5bn aluminium smelter and major food processing facilities are either still on hold or have been cancelled.

With the refinery and metals industry coming to JEC, Sagia is hoping that more investment will be made in the mid term. However, the prevailing market conditions are still making it difficult to attract the investment that JEC sorely needs.