Interview: "Never been a better time" for Saudi Arabia-China relations -- Diriyah CEO

PERTH, Australia, Oct. 13 (Xinhua) -- The Group CEO of Saudi Arabia's Diriyah Company sees "enormous" investment opportunities for Chinese companies, saying that "never in history" has the relationship between the kingdom and China been better.

"2024 is a very big year for us," Jerry Inzerillo, Group CEO of Diriyah Company, told Xinhua on the sidelines of the 24th World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) Global Summit, which took place recently in Perth, Western Australia.

"We've announced many joint ventures with Chinese land operators, tour operators, and destination management companies. We've made announcements on air routes to and from the kingdom to various Chinese cities. We have a very, very big mandate in 2025 for China."

Diriyah Company is responsible for preserving and developing Diriyah to become a top global heritage and culture destination aligned with Saudi Arabia's Vision 2030.

At the center point of Diriyah, a town near the Saudi capital of Riyadh, stands At-Turaif, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

"Things are looking very, very optimistic, including that by the end of this year, we will have hit over 2 million visitors mark for the UNESCO World Heritage Site of At-Turaif," Inzerillo said.

"In July, we just gave a giant contract worth 2.1 billion U.S. dollars to a joint venture between a Saudi and a Chinese company to build key assets, including a hotel and educational facilities."

"For investors who want to come in and take out our equity for their equity to participate in the growth of Riyadh, it's a very, very good time now. We have a full investment division," Inzerillo said.

"Riyadh is a city growing from 8 million to 15 million people, there are a lot of positive things," Inzerillo added.

Asked about his outlook for travelers from China to Saudi Arabia, Inzerillo said, "Never in the history of the two countries has the relationship been better. This will also manifest in investments from Saudi to China and China to Saudi. Now that the Chinese are traveling again in record numbers, we're teaching a lot of our staff to speak Mandarin and Cantonese to welcome large Chinese contingents."

"I can't think of a more exciting time in terms of relationships, both for investment and tourism," he added.