Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund has launched a company to develop a coastal residential and tourism project in Al Khafji, an oil-producing city near the Kuwaiti border, as the kingdom expands infrastructure around the strategically important area.
Al Khafji lies about 10km south of the border and 130km from Kuwait City, placing it closer to the Kuwaiti capital than to Dammam, about 300km to the south. The governorate, home to about 84,000 people, is a centre of oil production in the Divided Neutral Zone, whose hydrocarbon resources are shared equally by Saudi Arabia and Kuwait.
The offshore Khafji field is operated by Al Khafji Joint Operations, a venture between Aramco Gulf Operations and Kuwait Gulf Oil Company. The field, which can produce about 300,000 barrels per day, was shut in 2014 amid a dispute between the two countries and restarted in 2020.
The new Gulf Coast Development Company will develop about 20 square kilometres along a 10km stretch of Arabian Gulf waterfront, PIF said on Monday. The project's cost was not disclosed.
Plans include eight residential neighbourhoods containing more than 16,000 homes, hotels with about 1,400 rooms, commercial and tourism facilities, schools and marinas.
Construction will be carried out in three phases. The first, comprising three neighbourhoods that will form the centre of the development, is due for completion in 2030.
The company will “capitalise on Al Khafji's cultural and logistical advantages” and “generate new opportunities for the region's residents, upgrade the city's infrastructure and deepen private sector partnerships”, said Saad Alkroud, head of local real estate investments at PIF.
PIF said the project would meet growing demand for housing and tourism accommodation in the northern Eastern Province, which attracts visitors from Kuwait and elsewhere in the Gulf.
The developer falls under the fund's urban development and livability ecosystem, one of six systems under PIF's 2026-2030 strategy that was approved by its board in April. The other five are tourism, travel and entertainment; advanced manufacturing and innovation; industrials and logistics; clean energy, water and renewables infrastructure; and Neom.
PIF's other property developers include Roshn, Diriyah Company, New Murabba and Jeddah Central Development Company.
