Diriyah, a Saudi gigaproject focused on developing a Riyadh historic site as a real estate and tourism destination, held discussions with Syrian officials this week about contributing to the reconstruction of historic sites in Syria, the project’s CEO told Reuters on Wednesday.
“Someone is going to rebuild Damascus and Aleppo at some particular point, someone's going to rebuild Beirut at some particular point,” Jerry Inzerillo, CEO of Diriyah Gate Company said in an interview on the sidelines of the Future Investment Initiative (FII) summit in Riyadh.
“We can't do anything right now because we're busy, but I think at some particular point we would,” he said, adding that he discussed the matter with Syrian cabinet members visiting Riyadh this week.
Years of conflict in Syria have left many of its ancient cities and archaeological treasures in ruins, prompting calls for international support to restore key cultural landmarks, including the ancient city of Aleppo and Roman temple sites at Palmyra. Challenges to such recovery efforts remain, relating to funding, security, and political coordination.
Diriyah Gate could expand as a global developer of cultural heritage sites and could also develop six additional cultural heritage sites in Saudi Arabia, Inzerillo said.
The Diriyah project is part of Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 strategy to diversify the economy and position the kingdom as a tourism and cultural hub. The development includes luxury hotels, museums and residential units built around the UNESCO-listed At-Turaif district, the birthplace of the Saudi state.
The company is profitable and plans to pursue an initial public offering on the Saudi exchange after 2030, Inzerillo said, adding that it expects to receive "billions of US dollars" of foreign, private investment.
The company's main project in Riyadh is on time and on budget and will be mostly finished by 2030, he said.
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