By Aziz El Yaakoubi
RIYADH (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia is pressing on with investing billions of dollars in the southern region of Aseer, as confidence grows about ending the war over the border in Yemen, the head of a commission owned by the sovereign wealth fund said on Friday.
Aseer and its airport in the city of Abha were a major target for ballistic missiles and armed drones fired by Yemen's Houthi movement that has been at war against a Saudi-led coalition since 2015.
The conflict has shifted to a stalemate. There have been several rounds of peace talks between the kingdom and the Iran-aligned Houthis in Riyadh, Sanaa and Muscat.
"It is correct that Abha is close to Yemen ... but we are forging ahead, and the sentiment is very optimistic and very positive," Hashim Al Dabbagh, CEO of the Aseer Development Authority, said.
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman launched a 50 billion riyal ($13 billion) strategy in September to use private and public investment to develop the region on the Red Sea coast into a tourism hub.
Dabbagh said the Public Investment Fund (PIF) wealth fund would invest 20 billion riyals directly to develop infrastructure, hotels, venues and other projects in two main schemes.
The Soudah project would cover an area about the size of Bahrain.
"The parts that are going to be developed are 1% of the total region, the rest, we are going to preserve the forests and the nature that exists in those regions," he said.
The Al-Wadi project included reviving a river that has been dry for decades because of dams built in the past.
"And on both sides (of the river) is going to be residential, commercial, cultural, agricultural and no roads. This is for pedestrians and people to walk out."
The strategy also includes expanding Abha airport.
"The airport is going to be entirely overhauled. The capacity is going to be expanded to 13 million passengers per year. The number of flights is going to grow to 90,000 per year," Dabbagh said.
(Reporting by Aziz El Yaakoubi; Editing by Andrew Heavens)
