His Excellency the Minister of Municipalities and Housing, Mr. Majid bin Abdullah Al Haqeel, today opened the International Utilities 2025 Conference and Exhibition, organized by the Facilities Management Saudi Arabia at the Riyadh International Convention and Exhibition Center from August 24 to 26, 2025, under the theme “Facility Intelligence”, with the participation of more than 100 government, private and international entities, more than 50 local and international speakers, and a group of experts, practitioners and decision-makers from inside and outside the Kingdom.
Haqeel stressed that the conference and exhibition will be held at the Riyadh International Convention and Exhibition Center during the period from 24 to 26 August 2025, under the theme "Facility Intelligence". In his opening speech, Al-Haqeel emphasized that the Kingdom is leading the process of transformation towards the future with confident steps and an ambitious vision, which celebrates this meeting, which is a new milestone added to the record of national successes and a dialogue platform that reviews global best practices and discusses innovative solutions to develop a sector that represents the main pillar of mega projects.
Haqeel explained that the Kingdom's vision for the future is to develop a sector that represents the main pillar of mega projects. He explained that the Kingdom's Vision 2030 pays great attention to urban infrastructure, enhancing operational efficiency and sustainability in cities, and adopting smart solutions in facilities management, noting that the Ministry has adopted a strategic approach that focuses on raising the efficiency of municipal facilities and enhancing their operational readiness, by developing mechanisms and standards to assess their efficiency, and developing relevant legislation and manuals to ensure the sustainability of their performance and improve the quality of services provided to beneficiaries.
He pointed out that the Ministry has adopted a strategic approach to raise the efficiency of municipal facilities and enhance their operational readiness by developing mechanisms and standards to assess their efficiency, and develop relevant legislation and guides to ensure the sustainability of their performance and improve the quality of services provided to beneficiaries.
He pointed out that the Ministry is working to shift from traditional contracts to performance-based contracts, in line with modern trends in raising efficiency and quality of spending and enhancing competitiveness, noting that facilities management is no longer limited to the concept of operation and maintenance, but has become a pivotal element in building smart cities, raising the quality of life, achieving environmental, economic and social sustainability, with the human being at the center of this transformation.
The Minister of Municipalities stated that the Ministry is working to shift from traditional contracts to performance-based contracts. The Minister of Municipalities and Housing pointed out that the Ministry seeks to empower this sector through policies and legislation, develop national competencies, and support public-private partnerships, noting that "utility intelligence" is a key pillar to achieve national targets in building more sustainable cities and raising the quality of life, pointing out that the inclusion of six Saudi cities in the MID Smart Cities Index is an outstanding achievement that paves the way to achieve the goal of including at least three Saudi cities among the top 100 global cities by 2030.
Minister of Municipalities and Housing said that the inclusion of six Saudi cities in the MID Smart Cities Index is a milestone that paves the way for achieving the goal of including at least three Saudi cities in the list of the best 100 cities globally by 2030. He touched on the status of the facilities management sector as one of the vital sectors, and the size of the local market reached about (180) billion riyals in 2024, with expectations of its growth at an annual rate exceeding (7%) until 2030, stressing that this growth is driven by the Kingdom's Vision 2030 and the expansion of mega projects, which opens major investment opportunities for local and international companies, especially in the fields of digital transformation, energy efficiency and environmental sustainability.
Minister of Municipalities concluded. The Minister of Municipalities and Housing concluded his speech by stressing that the International Utilities Conference and Exhibition 2025 is part of an integrated effort to enhance the Kingdom's position as a regional and international center for knowledge and innovation in this vital field, praising the efforts of the Saudi Facilities Management Association, organizing committees, partners and sponsors, and appreciating the participants from inside and outside the Kingdom for this great attendance.
The Minister concluded his speech by praising the efforts of the Saudi Facilities Management Association, organizing committees, partners and sponsors.
