GEA CEO: Saudi entertainment sector could create 200,000 jobs, billions in profit

The CEO of the General Entertainment Authority (GEA), Amr bin Ahmed Banaja, has claimed that Jeddah is a fertile region for private sphere investment in the leisure and entertainment industries.

“The GEA has sought to provide the necessary infrastructure for developing new entertainment and sports activities,” he told guests at the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry’s 75th anniversary celebration, stressing that potential entertainment revenues in the city could reach SR 30 billion ($8 billion) and create up to 200,000 jobs by 2030.

He reminded the audience that the GEA was a legislative body, however, and not an executive authority. It would be up to the private sector to create the opportunities for growth.

But, Banaja added, the GEA would build new partnerships with private companies, and create seven new entertainment venues in Jeddah, Dammam, Riyadh and the Eastern Province, to give the companies a platform from which to prosper and expand.