RIYADH, SAUDI ARABIA--(Marketwire - January 26, 2008) - Prince Abdulaziz Bin Musaed Economic
City today signed a strategic agreement with Cisco® (NASDAQ: CSCO) for
the information and communications technology (ICT) infrastructure
development of what will be one of the largest logistics hubs in the Middle
East. The collaboration will open up the possibility of next-generation
quad-play connectivity (data, voice, video and mobile communications) to
all businesses and residents operating within the city.
Located within the northern Saudi city of Hail, the Economic City is
envisaged as an integrated commerce and industry hub stretching across 156
million square meters. Once complete, the project will boast an
international airport, rail link, dry port and operations centre, and a
supply chain centre within the logistics zone. Hail Economic City is
projected to generate employment for 30,000 people and contribute to the
doubling of Hail's GDP in the next decade.
Cisco will be providing the ICT technology architecture for this ambitious
project, based on Cisco's Connected Real Estate solutions, through which
all buildings in the city will be interconnected and controlled over a
secured Internet Protocol (IP) network, which will help to centralize
management operations and reduce the cost of day-to-day operation of the
real estate. The network architecture will also provide a Radio Frequency
Identification (RFID) infrastructure to enable automated asset tracking
across the city.
"The technology infrastructure which will be deployed will be second to
none and play a significant role in attracting global businesses to set up
shop in the city. Furthermore, it will help create an enhanced quality of
life and working experience for citizens working in this comprehensive
logistics and mining hub," said Abdullah Taibah, CEO for Prince Abdulaziz
Bin Musaed Economic City. "The ICT infrastructure will help companies
reduce their capital and operational expenditures in addition to taking
advantage of innovative services and enhanced convenience from such
technology."
He added. "This is part of our commitment to develop world class
infrastructure and help in efforts to boost the Saudi economy with more
investments and creation of jobs for Saudi residents. Additionally, we
project over 400,000 people will be working and living in the city in
buildings designed to provide a unique lifestyle."
"We are committed to driving and supporting technology innovations for
developing the Prince Abdulaziz Bin Musaed Economic City with Cisco's
Connected Real Estate Initiative, developed to be a globally replicable
model, to help expand and build entirely new cities with state-of-the-art
networking technology," said Wim Elfrink, executive vice president and
chief globalisation officer for Cisco. "A city wired from top-to-bottom
with IP technology will play a major role in transforming real estate
businesses and traditional industries like logistics, agriculture, energy
and mineral mining."
About PABMEC:
Prince Abdul Aziz Bin Mousaed Economic City (PABMEC) is a 30 billion SAR
(US$8 billion) economic city occupying a total area of 156 million square
meters and will be responsible for creating 30 thousand new job
opportunities in Hail. PABMEC will have as its Primary Cluster-Based Sector
Mining, Agro-Industrial and a Building Materials, which will be underpinned
by a robust Transportation, Supply & Logistics Services Sector. The
Airport, Dry Port, and Land Freight in addition to the Passenger Rail
Service will be the city's economic nerve in addition to contributing to
its dynamic growth. Moreover, PABMEC is strategically situated and only an
hour by plane from 11 Arab and regional capitals, thus making it a natural
hub and a regional focal point for the transportation of goods and people.
The Knowledge Zone will have research facilities and centers of excellence
linked to the city's Primary Economic Sectors which will be responsible for
rehabilitating and training the necessary human resources thus contributing
PABMEC's sustainable business development and growth of its knowledge base.
In addition PABMEC will also be supported by a Commercial, Residential and
Recreational Sectors.
About Cisco Systems
Cisco (NASDAQ: CSCO) is the worldwide leader in networking that transforms
how people connect, communicate and collaborate. Information about Cisco
can be found at http://www.cisco.com. For ongoing news, please go to
http://newsroom.cisco.com. Cisco equipment in emerging markets is supplied
by Cisco Systems International BV, a wholly owned subsidiary of Cisco
Systems, Inc.
Cisco, the Cisco logo, Cisco Systems and Networking Academy are registered
trademarks of Cisco Systems, Inc. in the United States and certain other
countries. All other trademarks mentioned in this document are the property
of their respective owners. The use of the word partner does not imply a
partnership relationship between Cisco and any other company. This document
is Cisco Public Information.
For direct RSS Feeds of all Cisco news, please visit "News@Cisco" at the
following link:
http://newsroom.cisco.com/dlls/rss.html
Contact Information: Press:
Jehan AbdulKarim
+966 12183072
jabdulka@cisco.com
Industry Analysts:
Sharon Robinson
+27 (0)21 4134577
sharobin@cisco.com
Investor Relations:
Andreas Goldau
+44 208 824 8209
agoldau@cisco.com