LIGHT RAILWAY TO FACILITATE TRAFFIC OF PILGRIMS
In Mecca, the holiest city to Muslims, located 80 km east of Jeddah, there is the Green Dragon metro, another landmark that goes between high mountains and hills to transport pilgrims.
For the comfort of around three million pilgrims coming from around 100 countries every year, Saudi Arabia has ordered the construction of a metro linking five areas in order to ease congestion and limit stampede during Hajj rituals in the holy city.
In January 2009, the Chinese Railways Construction Corporation (CRCC) signed an agreement with the Saudi Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs to build a light railway in Mecca.
The light railway started its operation in 2010. Although it is only 18.25 km long, it is the most complicated line in the world and has the largest capacity to transport passengers within certain period.
The project attracted attention from both Saudi and Chinese governments, especially after Saudi Arabia announced in 2010 that the light railway will be used for the first time to transfer pilgrims in the history of Hajj for 1,300 years.
With Muslims from all over the world taking the new Chinese trains between five stations in Mecca, the Chinese company was overwhelmed with the praise by the media and Saudis.
The appreciation reached high to an extend that locals were thumping up to the Chinese drivers when seeing the vehicles with the logo of CRCC on Mecca's roads.
By 2014, the CRCC successfully completed running the trains for five consecutive years without any safety-related accidents. At the same time, it has provided job opportunities for locals and training courses on managing the train trips.
VALUABLE TECHNOLOGY SUPPORT
With the discovery of large areas of oil fields in the huge desert, Saudi Arabia depends major on oil revenues to invest in education, science and technology.
Since its entry in the Saudi market in 1999, Chinese Huawei Technology Company has cooperated with three Saudi major communication companies, offering the best and latest services for individuals in the kingdom.
Through the contributions of Huawei, the number of mobile phone users in the kingdom increased from 36 million in 2008 to 51 million in 2014, and the world ranking of Saudi Arabia in IT indicators jumped from 27 to 24.
Huawei has implemented 90 percent of Saudi government projects in the remote areas and satisfied the basic needs of 3.5 million Saudis for communication services. It also offered the latest technologies and products, such as TDD and LTE networks, the basic GIP 400 networks and the Client Experience Management system.
Throughout the last ten years, Huawei has provided wireless communication services to 3 million pilgrims each year in the 180 km Hajj areas. With more than 1,000 employees in Saudi Arabia, it has offices in Riyadh, Dammam and Jeddah. Saudi Arabia has becomes one of the most important foreign markets for Huawei.
