JEDDAH, Saudi Arabia, 01 February 2010 - Cisco has been appointed to support the creation of the critical information and communications technology (ICT) master plan for the Jazan Economic City (JEC) 100-million-square-meter "smart city" project.  The Cisco Smart+Connected Communities project at JEC will be coordinated in conjunction with JEC's master plan developers, Malaysian MMC Corp. and the Saudi Ben Laden Group (SBG). The project aims to attract considerable global investment of more than 100 billion Saudi riyals and will establish the presence of a number of major industries in the city, such as local energy production, material, manpower and lifestyle. It also aims to create more than 500,000 new jobs in the various industries and service-oriented companies that will be established in JEC.

Key Facts and Highlights:

• Cisco's Smart+Connected Communities helps transform physical communities into connected communities that can help to realize sustainable economic growth, deliver environmental sustainability through resource management and operational efficiencies, and enhance the quality of life. Cisco works with its customers from idea to execution and use vertical solutions built on the network as an open integrated platform, along with a broad ecosystem of partners and innovative business models, to change the way communities are designed, built, managed and renewed. Constituents of Smart+Connected Communities have access to information and services that enrich their lives, with technology solutions for their home, schools, transportation and more.
• Cisco understands how important it is for governments and their private sector partners to foster a thriving, safe community where constituents are free to live, work, learn and play. Cisco has created solutions that can help with the planning, day-to-day operations and management of a community. Taking advantage of its expertise in Connected Real Estate, Cisco provided the network architecture for the city, which will be used as the ICT basis to interconnect all the JEC buildings and to provide highly secure smart services.
• Jazan Economic City will be located along the Red Sea, 60 kilometers northwest of Jizan City. It represents one of the most important hubs on the coastline of the Red Sea, in close proximity to local and international markets. Accordingly, this can provide opportunities for better trade relations between Asia and Africa, offering valuable opportunities for investment and facilitating sea navigation and cargo shipping. Two-thirds of the Economic City has been devoted to the development of an advanced industrial zone, and the remaining space will be allocated as a residential area located on the periphery of the gulf coast. Residential marina housing has been designed to help provide various types of accommodations to suit the lifestyles of its employees, who will be amongst the projects' 250,000 residents.
• The proposed city will provide a high-quality environment for key industries, technology exchanges, commerce and trade, employment opportunities, education and training, housing and a broad spectrum of socio-economic activities for a projected population of 300,000 people.
• Cisco's Smart+Connected Communities initiative provides solutions and services that cater to the stakeholders in commercial real estate markets and is specifically tailored to add value to individuals and companies that create and operate real estate for financial gain. Connected Real Estate principles are applied to increase revenues, reduce cost and consequently improve profits, increasing shareholder value.
• A smart data center network infrastructure at JEC will provide a centralized operational management of the city services at reduced operational costs.  JEC's network will facilitate data, voice, video and mobile communications across commercial buildings, residential buildings and industrial sectors. 
• This project works closely with the kingdom's ongoing drive to expand the economy by creating employment opportunities for its youthful population and acting as a catalyst to attract foreign investment, global trade, commerce and industry.

Executive quotes:

 

 

"The wealth of experience that Cisco has in conceptualizing and managing Smart+Connected Communities across the world has been instrumental in providing us with a workable and justifiable framework for the planning and implementation of JEC information communications technology services towards making JEC a safe, convenient, exciting, cost-effective and attractive city to live in for both residents and investors."

 

 

"Cisco's Smart+Connected Communities initiative was developed to be a globally replicable model.  It has the potential to play a major role in transforming real estate developments in the regional areas.  Together with MMC and SBG, Cisco will provide a smart and world-class services platform that will help achieve JEC's vision."

• Adzreen Aziz , project director, JEC
• Caspar Herzberg, senior director of Cisco Advisory Services

Links /URL's:

• For more details about Cisco's Smart+Connected Communities visit: http://www.cisco.com/web/strategy/smart_connected_communities.html
• Emerging Markets RSS Feed: http://newsroom.cisco.com/data/syndication/rss2/EmergingMarkets.xml
• Middle East News:  http://newsroom.cisco.com/me

About Jazan Economic City (JEC)

As the Kingdom's most sophisticated heavy industrial zone, Jazan Economic City (JEC) offers an unparalleled environment for energy-intensive industries in a fully metropolitan design.

JEC will cover a total area of 100 million sq m, located 725 km south of Jeddah on the Red Sea, with an expected population of 300 thousand and a total investment of $27 B. Jazan Economic City's guiding philosophy is one of symbiotic development, establishing mutually reinforcing industry clusters. The primary anchors of Port, Power and desalination, Oil, Aluminum, Steel and Copper provide strong downstream opportunities with industries as diverse as pharmaceuticals, food processing and high value agritech producers within a growing regional environment
Jazan Economic City is also central to a booming population. The populations in the immediate regions of KSA, Yemen, Sudan, Ethiopia and Eritrea are expected to nearly double in the next 25 years while the population of Europe is projected to decline. Future markets in Africa and Asia are expected to expand while they are contracting in Europe and America.  For more information please visit: http://www.jazanecity.com/en/index.html