Saudi Arabia's General Commission for Audiovisual Media (GCAM) announced that it will invest $35 billion in building more than 2,500 movie theaters over the next five years.

More than 200 construction and exhibition executives from 20 countries are expected to attend the Cinema Build KSA Forum set to take place in Riyadh on April 14 and 15.

AMC Entertainment, which opened the Saudi Arabia's first movie theater in April 2018, confirmed that it is moving ahead with plans to build more screens in the country.

“The cinema sector in Saudi Arabia will see significant growth, especially with GCAM’s continuous efforts to facilitate and promote national and foreign investment to enter the sector,” head of the General Commission for Audiovisual Media, Bader Alzahrani, said.

“At the same time, GCAM is working toward achieving Quality of Life Program’s goal by opening 45 cinemas by 2020, with emphasis on providing various different entertainment opportunities for everyone, which will enhance and contribute to diversifying the economy,” he added.