"Camel City": An Investment Gateway Shaping the Camel Industry in the Kingdom

2026-07-02T17:06:53.817Z

The camel sector in the Kingdom is witnessing a transformation from a heritage symbol to a vital economic sector supported by advanced technologies, through the "Camel City" project in Qaryat al-Ulya in the Eastern Province, spanning about 20 million square meters to accommodate 150,000 head, with an investment value exceeding 11 billion riyals. The city is considered a model of a smart city employing digital twin systems...

The camel sector in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is undergoing an unprecedented transformation, no longer merely a symbol of popular cultural heritage but today a promising economic and investment sector based on innovation, artificial intelligence, and biotechnologies. Since the establishment of the Camel Club and subsequent regulations and modern restructuring, the sector has entered a new phase of governance, aligned with the goals of the Kingdom's Vision 2030 aimed at diversifying the economy and enhancing investment in promising sectors. From this perspective, the Camel City project in Qaryat al-Ulya governorate in the Eastern Province has emerged as one of the most important investment initiatives of the Ministry of Environment, Water and Agriculture and its affiliated centers and programs, as a strategic project with economic, scientific, and developmental dimensions that go beyond the concept of traditional livestock projects, in strategic partnership with "Morouth Company for Building Geospatial Databases." The city, which extends over an area of nearly 20 million square meters and aims to accommodate about 150,000 head of camels, represents an advanced model of a smart city employing the latest technologies in managing and developing this vital sector. The project's investment value exceeds 11 billion riyals, reflecting the scale of the bet on building an integrated economic system that includes production, manufacturing, scientific research, logistics services, tourism, and digital technologies, within a framework that enhances local content, attracts quality investments, creates job opportunities for citizens, and contributes to raising the competitiveness of the national economy and strengthening the Kingdom's position in high-value-added biotechnology industries. The project is distinguished by its reliance on an advanced technological system that includes Digital Twin systems and RFID technologies to manage and monitor the health and productivity status of camels in real time, which increases operational efficiency, enhances food security, achieves high levels of quality, traceability, and governance, and provides an accurate database supporting decision-making and future planning. Among the most prominent elements of excellence is the "Tiryaq" biotechnology platform, which relies on artificial intelligence to study the camel genome and utilize nanobodies extracted from camels in developing promising pharmaceutical and biological applications, while leveraging the unique biological properties of camels to create future solutions that enhance the research, development, and knowledge transfer system. The project also offers an advanced model of digital governance through the camel e-passport based on Blockchain technology, which documents the genetic and health record and ownership data for each camel, enhancing transparency, raising the reliability of asset trading, and opening the door for innovative investment solutions, contributing to the development of the camel market according to best practices. The city also hosts specialized factories for milk, meat, leather, and wool products, the largest specialized camel hospital, factories for serums and vaccines, a feed factory, research centers, a gene bank for breed improvement, a national camel museum, along with cultural, tourist, and international academic facilities for camel sciences. "Camel City" represents an advanced national model for investment in the bioeconomy and confirms that the Kingdom possesses the capabilities that qualify it to lead this sector regionally and globally. If the project's goals are implemented according to the highest scientific and technical standards, its impact will not be limited to the development of the camel sector alone, but will contribute to supporting food security, enhancing innovation, diversifying income sources, localizing biotechnology industries, attracting quality investments, and cementing the Kingdom's position as a global center for biotechnology and innovation.