SAUDI ARABIA TO BUILD US$500bn GLOBAL CAPITAL IN THE DESERT

Saudi Arabia unveils plan to build a US$500bn high tech city in the desert.

The young crown prince of Saudi Arabia, Mohammed bin Salman, have unveiled plans to build a US$500bn high tech city in the mountainous desert region of the country on the coasts of the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aqaba.

The 26,500-sq-km and renewable-powered city called “Neom” which is shortened from the Arabic for “new future”, will be governed by its own laws which will be drafted by foreign investors. It will also be a high-tech haven for commercial development in nine (9) future-looking sectors including biotech, food, advanced manufacturing, I.T, mobility and digital gaming.

Dr. Klaus Kleinfeld, former chairman and CEO of Alcoa and Arconic Inc., who was just named Neom chief executive will be leading the Neom project.

Neom will be the “the first private zone extending among three countries”, as it will include territories of neighbours Egypt and Jordan.

The project which will be backed by Saudi’s vast oil-revenue-fueled Public Investment Fund (PIF), will be built from the scratch and is a part of the crown prince vision 2030  plan to detach the kingdom’s economy off oil.

The scheme which is intended to attract global investment into the planned futuristic sectors, will also help limit the leakage of funds abroad from the Kingdom and aim to be one of the most important economic and scientific capitals in the world.

In August, Saudi Arabia also planned to turn a vast area of its western Red Sea coast into a tourism hot spot featuring 50 pristine islands, white sandy beaches, and pre-Islamic history and culture. This development lies to the south of the region set aside for Neom.