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Jeddah, December 20, 2006 -
The General Authority of Civil Aviation of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and IFC, the private sector arm of the World Bank Group, today announced the winning bidder for a long-term concession for expansion and rehabilitation of a specialized passenger terminal for religious pilgrims at the King Abdulaziz International Airport in Jeddah.
IFC advised and assisted the General Authority in structuring its first public-private partnership transaction under a long-term “build-transfer-operate” concession agreement, with the private sector partner chosen through a competitive bidding process. The Hajj Terminal is one of the country’s most important air terminals and is dedicated to international religious pilgrims visiting the holy sites for Hajj and Umrah. The terminal currently has inadequate facilities and severe capacity constraints. This project is the first step taken by the General Authority of Civil Aviation as part of a master redevelopment program aimed at meeting an increasing volume of passenger traffic. Under the 20-year agreement, the investor will replace the existing facilities with a new modern terminal with sufficient capacity and state-of-the-art equipment to provide the required level of service to the Hajj and Umrah passengers.
Of the five Saudi and international groups who participated in the bidding process, the consortium led by Saudi Binladen Group in association with Aeroports de Paris Management was selected as the preferred bidder, based on the combined scores of the evaluated technical and financial proposals submitted by the bidders.
H.E. Abdullah M. N. Rehaimi, President of the General Authority of Civil Aviation, noted that, “GACA is undergoing a rapid transformation with an overall objective of achieving full commercialization. The Hajj Terminal Expansion and Rehabilitation Project is GACA’s first effort to introduce private sector participation in its activities. By attracting an international airport operator’s expertise and building modern terminal facilities, we will considerably improve the level of service provided to the visitors of the two holy mosques for the next two decades.”
Bernard Sheahan, IFC’s Advisory Services Director, added, “This project sets an important precedent for future initiatives in which the private sector can take an increasingly central role. The private sector can provide the necessary expertise and to help meet the infrastructure needs of a growing economy such as Saudi Arabia’s.”
About IFC
IFC, the private sector arm of the World Bank Group, promotes open and competitive markets in developing countries. IFC supports sustainable private sector companies and other partners in generating productive jobs and delivering basic services, so that people have opportunities to escape poverty and improve their lives. Through FY06, IFC Financial Products has committed more than $56 billion in funding for private sector investments and mobilized an additional $25 billion in syndications for 3,531 companies in 140 developing countries. IFC Advisory Services and donor partners have provided more than $1 billion in program support to build small enterprises, to accelerate private participation in infrastructure, to improve the business enabling environment, to increase access to finance, and to strengthen environmental and social sustainability. For more information, please visit
www.ifc.org
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