DUBAI, April 19 (Xinhua) -- Dubai-based VOX Cinemas, the largest cinema operator in the Middle East, said on Thursday that it had been granted licenses to open cinemas in Saudi Arabia, where the government lifted this week a 35-year ban on public screenplays.
VOX said in an emailed statement that the first multiplex in Saudi Arabia will open at Riyadh Park Mall in the coming days, which will include four screens.
"We thank the Saudi Government, the Ministry of Culture and Information and the General Commission for Audio-visual Media for the confidence they have placed in us to contribute to a new chapter in the history of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia," said Alain Bejjani, CEO of Majid Al Futtaim Group, the owner of VOX Cinemas.
VOX Cinemas, he added, is investing an additional 2 billion Saudi riyal (530 million U.S. dollars) to open 600 screens in the next five years in Saudi Arabia.
The cinema giant is also an active supporter of the Saudi Vision 2030, the statement added.
The lifting of bans on public screenplays is part of Saudi Vision 2030 reform program, which was launched by Saudi Crown Prince Mohamed Bin Salman in April 2016.
On Wednesday, the Marvel superhero film "Black Panther" was screened in Saudi Arabia.
AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc., the U.S. movie-theater chain owned by Dalian Wanda Group, was the first to obtain a license to open cinemas in Saudi Arabia.
Olivier Harnisch, CEO of Dubai's hotel group Emaar Hospitality, told Xinhua in interview on Wednesday, "Saudi Arabia with a total population of 32 million people is a very important country for the region and it has a significant, growing middle class."
Reforms and changes like the recent introduction of Saudi tourist visas will provide ample business opportunities for Dubai's hospitality sector in the coming years, said Harnisch.
