Saudi Arabia announces $500 billion mega city project

[Saif al-Arab]

BUSINESS NEWS
MARCH 5, 2018 / 2:01 AM / A DAY AGO
Egypt commits 1,000 sq km in south Sinai to Saudi mega-city: official

Stephen Kalin
3 MIN READ

RIYADH (Reuters) - Egypt has committed more than 1,000 square kilometres (386 square miles) of land in the southern Sinai Peninsula to a planned mega-city and business zone unveiled by Saudi Arabia last October, a Saudi official told Reuters on Monday.

The territory along the Red Sea is part of a joint fund worth more than $10 billion and announced by the two countries late on Sunday during a visit to Cairo by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

Prince Mohammed previously announced plans for the 26,500 square km zone, known as NEOM, at an international investment conference in Riyadh. Officials said public and private investment in the area was eventually expected to total $500 billion.

The mega-city, with its own judicial system and legislation designed to attract international investors, is to focus on industries such as energy and water, biotechnology, food, advanced manufacturing and tourism, according to officials.

It is part of bold moves by the 32-year-old heir apparent to wean the world’s top crude exporter off oil revenues that include plans to float a portion of state oil giant Saudi Aramco.

Riyadh’s part of the new joint investment fund will be cash to help develop the Egyptian side of NEOM, which was conceived as spanning across Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Jordan.

Saudi Arabia plans to build seven cities and tourism projects, while Egypt will focus on developing the existing resort cities of Sharm El Sheikh and Hurghada, the Saudi official said.

The kingdom will also work with Egypt and Jordan to attract European cruise companies to operate in the Red Sea during the winter season. Riyadh is negotiating with seven cruise companies and aims to build yacht marinas.

It will also set up 50 resorts and four small cities as part of a separate tourism initiative announced last August and backed by the country’s Public Investment Fund (PIF).

The Red Sea Project, made up of some 50 islands, will offer a nature reserve, diving on coral reefs and heritage sites. Authorities have said it would break ground in 2019 and complete its first phase by late 2022.

Riyadh and Cairo also signed an environmental protocol on Sunday aimed at preserving the Red Sea’s coral reefs and preventing “visual pollution”, the official said without providing details.

The Saudi government has already asked local construction companies to build five palaces in NEOM, Reuters reported last month. Some companies, including Japan’s Softbank (9984.T), have said they are prepared to invest there, but major, concrete business investments have not yet been announced.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-...nai-to-saudi-mega-city-official-idUSKBN1GH02G

https://twitter.com/x/status/968748678310703105

https://twitter.com/x/status/969631992538071042

 

[Saif al-Arab]

@waz bro, can I ask you to merge this thread with the thread below

https://defence.pk/pdf/threads/8-th...arabias-innovative-neom-project.526246/page-2

and move the combined thread to the Arab Section?

Thanks in advance.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1024228444350148608

https://twitter.com/x/status/1029412701070663680

 

[Saif al-Arab]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1029398011535937536

https://twitter.com/x/status/1028918226015739905

https://twitter.com/x/status/1028919340329054208

Some random photos of the ancient and historical Tabuk province:

تبوك - حسمه - رحلة مصوري تبوك by © Saud AL-Jethli, Photo, on Flickr

tabukarea164 by tabuk تبوك, on Flickr

​

Saudi Arabia Snow by ABO_TMEEM, on Flickr

Saudi Arabia - Tabuk , by © Saud AL-Jethli, Photo, on Flickr

Saudi Arabia. Tabuk 2010 by © Saud AL-Jethli, Photo, on Flickr

الوجه الاخر by A.Aziz Hajjaj عبدالعزيز بن حجاج, on Flickr

Amazing footage from Tabuk province:

https://twitter.com/x/status/829335131470958593

44 different shark species can be found in the tropical waters of the Red Sea​

List of sharks in the Red Sea - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Great Whites are present too.


Tabuk area منطقة تبوك by tabuk تبوك, on Flickr

​

KSA is also home to almost 2000 islands. This is an example of 1 such island. Tabuk Province. A stunning video.

Evidence of a large Christian monastery (one of the earliest in the world) in modern-day Northwestern KSA (Hijaz - current day Tabuk province):

https://www.deepdyve.com/lp/wiley/c...ve-of-islam-kilwa-saudi-arabia-new-jn3k599qlT

 

[Saif al-Arab]

Saudi's $500 billion mega-city NEOM is attracting 'overwhelming' interest from investors

• With ambitious plans to transform its economy as part of the crown prince's Vision 2030, Saudi Arabia is hoping to boost foreign direct investment (FDI).
• It hopes ambitious mega projects like the futuristic city of NEOM will attract FDI.

Holly Ellyatt | @HollyEllyatt
Published 6:51 AM ET Thu, 10 May 2018 Updated 9:01 AM ET Thu, 10 May 2018CNBC.com

With ambitious plans to transform its economy as part of the crown prince's Vision 2030, Saudi Arabia is hoping to boost foreign direct investment (FDI) into the country as it embarks on a post-oil era and ambitious mega projects like the futuristic city of NEOM.

Ibrahim Al-Omar, governor of the Saudi Arabian General Investment Authority (SAGIA), said foreign direct investment (FDI) was growing in Saudi Arabia.

Official figures from the World Bank show FDI net inflows were $7.453 billion in 2016 while net outflows were $8.936 in the same year.


Since then, however, Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has appeared to take the reigns on transforming the economy and society by introducing a raft of liberalizing reforms.

An anti-corruption purge led by the crown prince last year caused concern among some business leaders, but Al-Omar said foreign investment was now growing, but didn't give more detail.

"We have seen a growth for foreign investment — about 50 percent comparing the first quarter this year to the same period last year. Also, the (FDI) inflows we have seen about 40 percent," Al-Omar told CNBC's Hadley Gamble as she hosted a session on the Saudi Arabian FDI landscape at the Gateway Gulf investment forum in Bahrain.


Simon Dawson | Bloomberg | Getty Images
The Kingdom Tower (center) stands on the skyline above the King Fahd highway in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Saudi Arabia was ready to help businesses set up in the country and SAGIA was working with government entities to support and incentivize foreign investment, Al-Omar said.

The country also wanted to improve its business environment and ranking on the World Bank's "ease of doing business index" — it is currently at number 92 in the index of 190 countries.

"We have a target to be number 20 in the rankings of the ease of doing business by 2020. We are working with the World Bank and best practice across the world and we have identified over 400 reforms. Today, we have achieved about 40 percent of them," he said.

Al-Omar's comments come at an inflection point for Saudi Arabia as it, and its neighbors, try to wean themselves off oil as a main driver of the economy.

Economic sustainability has become something of a mantra for countries trying to invest in other sectors and infrastructure, as well as attract foreign investment into those areas, as a bid to weather future declines in oil prices.

Saudi Arabia's economic transformation strategy, the much-vaunted Vision 2030 that's being driven by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, aims to increase FDI into Saudi Arabia from 3.8 percent to the international level of 5.7 percent of gross domestic product (GDP).

Promoting the kingdom as a nation that's "open for business," the strategy also aims for Saudi to rise from its current position of 25 to the top 10 countries on the Global Competitiveness Index. In addition, Vision 2030 aims to increase the private sector's contribution from 40 percent to 65 percent of GDP.

'Overwhelming' interest in NEOM
The $500 billion industrial zone of NEOM is one of Saudi Arabia's mega-projects that it hopes will bring in billions from foreign investors.

The ambitious 26,500 square kilometer business zone will link Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Jordan and is envisaged as a futuristic hub for both industry and citizens. It aims to embrace digital technologies and services to make the city a major commercial location in the Middle East.

NEOM's Chief Executive Klaus Kleinfeld told the audience at the Gateway Gulf forum on Thursday that the project was attracting massive interest from foreign investors.

"The investment case for NEOM is actually very easy to make, because we've got so many things going for us," he said during the FDI panel, adding that the interest in partnering with Saudi Arabia in the creation of NEOM was "overwhelming."

"We've had a huge amount of interest and we're talking to a lot of companies that are at the forefront of technologies wanting to partner with us and try out things in NEOM... On the technological side, a lot of people look at it as a place where they think they can try a lot of things out."

Officials hope a privatization program, including the sale of 5 percent of oil giant Saudi Aramco, will raise $300 billion to help fund the creation of NEOM, which is under construction, and that more money will be invested by the private sector.

In a bid to remove bureaucratic and legislative obstacles that could deter businesses, Kleinfeld said the crown prince had specifically instructed that regulations be written in the most business-friendly and future-orientated way as possible.

The project is estimated to take between 30 to 50 years to complete, however, with the first phase due by 2025.

"And the $500 billion, we're not going to spend it all tomorrow and, quite frankly, a lot of it will come from private investments," Kleinfeld said. "But what I'm seeing today is that the interest in partnering is overwhelming."

Kleinfeld said that key concepts for NEOM, such as mobility around the city, were still being explored and there "there are gazillions of players that are willing to help and willing to invest in that," he said.

https://www.cnbc.com/2018/05/10/sau...ing-overwhelming-interest-from-investors.html

There is a reason why 2/3's of all the harmful Mullah's (if not all relevant Mullah's) are rotting behind bars or disposed off for good. Trojan horses, when at a crucial crossroads, cannot be tolerated at the expense of the nation and people.

In related news:

Saudi Arabia Wins Coveted Emerging-Market Status in MSCI Upgrade
By
Filipe Pacheco
and
Matthew Martin
20. juni 2018 22.38 CEST

Index compiler to implement upgrade starting next year

Country is the biggest market in the Middle East, Africa

Saudi Arabia’s efforts to modernize its stock market and attract billions in investments were recognized by MSCI Inc., which announced on Wednesday the addition of the kingdom to its group of emerging markets.

The index compiler, which has more than $1.9 trillion in assets benchmarked to its group of emerging markets indexes, will reclassify Saudi Arabia with implementation of its indexes starting in June 2019, it said. The nation was added to a watch list for a potential upgrade last year, and will now join nations including China, India, Turkey, South Africa and Brazil. Separately, MSCI said it would upgrade Argentina to the category as well.

“By supporting the inclusion of Saudi Arabia and Argentina in Emerging Markets, international institutional investors confirmed that they are now able and ready to access and operate in these markets,” said Sebastien Lieblich, MSCI Managing Director and Global Head of Equity Solutions.

Analysts estimate MSCI’s decision on Saudi Arabia will lead to billions of dollars from money managers worldwide and help improve liquidity in the biggest stock market in the Middle East and Africa. The Saudi capital markets regulator and local stock exchange have implemented a series of changes during the past few years aimed on adapting the bourse to international standards and requirements by index compilers.

Inclusion “is a game-changer for Saudi Arabia’s capital markets,” said Antoine Maurel, head of global markets for Middle East, North Africa and Turkey at HSBC Bank Middle East Ltd., who estimates it will lead to $35 billion of inflows. “This will create a much deeper and more liquid market,“ he said. HSBC was among the first qualified foreign investors to trade Saudi stocks directly three years ago.

Modernization of the stock market is part of a broader plan spearheaded by Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman to steer the nation’s economy away from oil and diversify the government’s sources of revenue. That includes selling shares in government-owned Saudi Aramco, which is expected to stage an initial public offering in Riyadh that could be the world’s biggest. FTSE Russell upgraded the country to emerging markets status in March.

Gradual Opening
Saudi Arabia opened its $524 billion stock market to foreign investors three years ago. Since then, it eased requirements for these investors with measures such as lowering the minimum amount of assets under management to get the status of qualified foreign investors, or QFI, and aligned trade settlement times with international standards.

Mohamad Al Hajj, equities strategist at the research arm of EFG-Hermes Holding, estimated that upgrades by FTSE and MSCI could lead to passive and active inflows of between $30 billion and $45 billion. Franklin Templeton Investments announced earlier this week that some of its funds have won approval as QFI in Saudi Arabia, while others are in the pipeline for authorization.

Ownership Breakdown
By nationality and investor type, as of June 7

Source: Tadawul

* The Gulf Cooperation Council comprises Saudi Arabia, the U.A.E., Qatar, Oman, Bahrain and Kuwait

Speculation that an upgrade was coming helped boost the Tadawul All Share Index by about 13 percent this year, compared with a drop of about 6 percent for the MSCI Emerging Markets Index during the same period. Foreigners were net buyers of Saudi stocks in almost every week this year, with net inflows of about 11.4 billion riyals ($3 billion) as of June 7 on aggregate for 2018, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Still, buyers from abroad have been coming in slowly overall, with total foreign ownership of Saudi stocks at about 5 percent -- below that of neighbors such as Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. Both have been members of the MSCI EM index since 2014.

Read more on why Saudi stocks are pricier than emerging markets peers.

The upgrade sets the stage for the Aramco IPO, another event that could boost liquidity. The sale, originally planned for the second half of this year, is now likely in 2019, the kingdom’s oil minister said last month. Saudi Arabia hopes to sell 5 percent of the world’s largest oil exporter, valuing the company at more than $2 trillion.

earlier this month he isn’t completely bullish on Saudi Arabia because the range of offerings is limited and a number of restrictions are still in place.

Last year’s detention of princes and dozens of officials for about three months, in what Saudi authorities called a crackdown on corruption, unnerved investors, and some cite a lack of transparency and doubts over corporate governance as reasons to stay away.

In the past three years, the Saudi stock market “has become much more open and much closer to international standards," said Mazen Alsudairi, head of research at Al Rajhi Capital Co. in Riyadh. “Saudi’s inclusion in MSCI will definitely prompt large global investors to invest in the Kingdom, with a rub-off effect on the whole region.”

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/arti...oveted-emerging-market-status-in-msci-upgrade

 

[Saif al-Arab]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1032410953806098433

 

[Hiraa]

Think of the opportunities and jobs this will create for the kingdom.

Police force men and women
Hospitals, doctors, nurses and other staff
Hotels and their whole staff
Resorts
Water activities by the beaches
Business opportunities to name a few.

Just endless amount of revenues will be created In shaa allah for helping the economy for the Kingfome

 

[WinterNights]

Impressive move by the Saudis. We need more of this in the region. Also lol at some here claiming this is not a wise move etc as if suggesting they know more than the Saudis who are the ones making this huge investment

 

[Saif al-Arab]

Thu 16 Aug 2018 10:06 AM

Neom Airport planned for Saudi Arabia's $500 billion mega-city
The futuristic city is expected to start taking shape in 2020, with the main city opening five years later

The Saudi government says NEOM - billed as a regional silicon valley - will draw investments worth $500 billion from the kingdom's vast Public Investment Fund, as well as local and international investors.


Saudi Arabia’s $500 billion city of the future, Neom, will see its own airport being built near the kingdom’s Tabuk area.

The mega-city, part of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s plan to diversify the country’s economy away from oil, is planned for Saudi’s Red Sea coast and revolves around artificial intelligence.

Neom Airport is reportedly located 10 kilometers from Sharma, 75 kilometers from Daba and will be initially coordinated with Prince Sultan City.


The airport’s code registered with the International Civil Aviation Organization is OENN.

Moreover, it will boast a runway of 3,757 metres long at 151 degrees on one side and 331 degrees on the other.

Neom, short for Latin-Arabic term Neo-Mustaqbal, which means "new future", is expected to start taking shape in 2020, with the main city opening five years later.


"Everything will have a link to artificial intelligence, to the Internet of Things - everything. Your medical file will be connected with your home supply, with your car, linked to your family, linked to your other files, and the system develops itself in how to provide you with better things,” the Crown Prince said in an interview with Bloomberg.

"Today all the clouds available are separate - the car is by itself, the Apple watch is by itself, everything is by itself. There, everything will be connected. So nobody can live in Neom without the Neom application we’ll have - or visit Neom," he said.

The 26,500 square km city will also most likely allow only electric vehicles to operate within its confines, according to its then-CEO Klaus Kleinfeld, a German executive who ran Siemens and Arconic. Kleinfeld left his role to become adviser to the Crown Prince.

“The ‘Neomians’ will...see it differently,” he said at the Gateway Gulf Investor Forum in Bahrain this year.

“For them, a car is one way of transportation, which you will have at your fingerprints. You push [a] button and the vehicle that you want shows up.”

Kleinfeld noted at the time that NEOM will be a showcase of what he termed a “post-industrial” lifestyle.

A number of hotels are already under construction in the area, which will also boast a summer resident for the Crown Prince and his father, King Salman.

In February, the Saudi Arabian government began to award contracts for the development of a NEOM in the northwest of the country, asking local construction companies to build five palaces there.

In July, King Salman chose to spend a “relaxing” holiday in the undeveloped city as opposed to his regular exotic destinations such as Morocco. A month later, he held his first-ever cabinet meeting in the futuristic city to show support to the project.

For all the latest business news from the UAE and Gulf countries, follow us on Twitter and Linkedin, like us on Facebook and subscribe to our YouTube page, which is updated daily.

https://www.arabianbusiness.com/pol...anned-for-saudi-arabias-500-billion-mega-city

https://twitter.com/x/status/1038871563838341120

I am overreacting here but I would be willing to donate a few parts of my body (let's say a few hairs, lol) if this amazingly exciting and groundbreaking project materializes itself down the road. It would be a game changer for KSA and the region if implemented successfully.

 

[Knight Rider]

This city will only have robots in it so its more like Robotic city with Terminators as local people. And Israeli agents will run it.

Islamic point of view on NEOM city.

 

[Saif al-Arab]

This city will only have robots in it so its more like Robotic city with Terminators as local people. And Israeli agents will run it.

Islamic point of view on NEOM city.

I don't thing that it will only be "robots" but it will be a futuristic city with emphasis on artificial intelligence etc.

Where do "Israeli agents" come into the picture?

Who is that Mullah and what has Islam to do with a futuristic city? Maybe that Mullah should make a video about PDF being Islamic or not. Crazy stuff.

 

[Knight Rider]

I don't thing that it will only be "robots" but it will be a futuristic city with emphasis on artificial intelligence etc.

Where do "Israeli agents" come into the picture?

Who is that Mullah and what has Islam to do with a futuristic city? Maybe that Mullah should make a video about PDF being Islamic or not. Crazy stuff.

Its is in the Hadees of Hazart Muhammad (S.A.W) about Kaaba being deserted the video is referencing to that Hadees. According to Hadees of Hazart Muhammad (S.A.W) Israel will take over Saudi Arabia except Mecca and Medina when half of this city will be build because ALLAH will protect Mecca and Medina from Israeli forces and will send an Earthquake to destroy their forces marching towards the Holy Cities. Maybe you should do some research, Israel is the enemy of Islam and Muslims.

 

[Saif al-Arab]

Its is in the Hadees of Hazart Muhammad (S.A.W) about Kaaba being deserted the video is referencing to that Hadees. According to Hadees of Hazart Muhammad (S.A.W) Israel will take over Saudi Arabia except Mecca and Medina when half of this city will be build because ALLAH will protect Mecca and Medina from Israeli forces and will send an Earthquake to destroy their forces marching towards the Holy Cities. Maybe you should do some research, Israel is the enemy of Islam and Muslims.

First of all in what parallel universe or fantasy world is the Kaaba (Al-Masjid al-Haram, Makkah, Hijaz, KSA, Arabia, Western Asia, Middle East, Asia, Eurasia, planet earth) deserted?

Not many days ago 3 million people were present in a very small geographical space during Hajj.

LOL.

Post the hadith in Arabic here please. I want to see the original hadith and where it originates from. I know Quranic Arabic which most Arabs know.

This is a thread about a futuristic city that (on paper) is a first of its kind in the world and which I am very much interested in. This has nothing to do with religion, Israel, Martians etc.

Nor do I speak Urdu although I understand many words due to them being of Arabic origin similar with the script.

Create a seperate thread about this topic.

An harmless friendly advice. Instead of getting brainwashed by people online (supposed clerics) that you have never meet in person (watching those videos with dramatic drums in the background or music at times), please use your own logic and make some research rather than blindly believing everything that you see or watch on the internet or in person.

KSA's dealings with Israel are non-existent compared to dozens of Muslim countries in the region, yet people are obsessing about KSA but keeping quite with the likes of Turkey, Egypt, Jordan, Azerbaijan etc. (that have 100 times closer ties and official ones). Why is that? Qatar have much closer ties with Israel as well. Qatari leaders have been meeting with Israeli leaders in public since the 1990's. KSA's yet to do such a thing in its history. No sane Saudi Arabian looks at the Israeli policy towards Palestine and occupation of the West Bank etc. favorably.

I am not evne bothering to post the 1000's of photos and videos showing Turkish, Egyptian, Jordanian, Azerbaijani etc. leaders meeting with Israeli officials in their own countries or in Israel or talking about their military dealings, economic dealings in the case of Azerbaijan and Turkey.

Arabs are not ignorant about the region. We know it better than anyone else. Arabs know Israel better than any non-Arabs as well. Sadly a lot of idealistic/religious Arabs are brainwashed and betray their kin and propagandize wannabe Arab's and their propaganda like the Iranian Mullah regime (wannabe Arab regime) and Erdogan (another wannabe Arab by large). Both those regimes are obsessing and meddling in various Arab states, mostly Syria and Iraq. Only because those states are unstable. When they were stable they could not do anything.

 

[SouI]

Officials hope a privatization program, including the sale of 5 percent of oil giant Saudi Aramco, will raise $300 billion to help fund the creation of NEOM

So what now?

 

[HannibalBarca]

Its is in the Hadees of Hazart Muhammad (S.A.W) about Kaaba being deserted the video is referencing to that Hadees. According to Hadees of Hazart Muhammad (S.A.W) Israel will take over Saudi Arabia except Mecca and Medina when half of this city will be build because ALLAH will protect Mecca and Medina from Israeli forces and will send an Earthquake to destroy their forces marching towards the Holy Cities. Maybe you should do some research, Israel is the enemy of Islam and Muslims.

I think you are confusing it with the Dajjal hadith...

 

[Saif al-Arab]

So what now?

Rising oil prices, positive growth (in the past 1.5 years) as well as much, much lower budget deficits and promising growth in the non-oil/gas sector changed this.

Also fears of selling out of the crown jewel (Aramco) even if just 5%. Difficulty of valuing the total value and assets of Aramco in a volatile oil market.

However Khalid al-Falih denied the media reports and I am quite sure that people involved in a potential sale are thinking long about this decision. Because they will have to take a decision regardless. Status quo remaining is also a decision by default.

Selling off Aramco shares or not (5%) is not going to stop this project in theory. In fact I would prefer for them not to sell any shares at all. It would have been needed if oil prices as they were in 2014 had continued for 4 years in a row. That has not been the case and since that time KSA has woken up (economic system, a totally new regime has come into power with vastly different ideas, economic plans, significant social, religious, economic, political changes n the society etc.).

It will be interesting to see what will occur in the future.

Some 2 weeks ago NEOM's advisory board was elected and it featured prominent locals as well as prominent and experienced foreign businessmen each attached to a specific field in NEOM.

Saudi Arabia's PIF forms FII advisory board of international executives

https://www.thenational.ae/business...ry-board-of-international-executives-1.764905

The advisory board members include Mohamed Ali Alabbar, Founder and Chairman, Emaar Properties, Ajay Banga, President and CEO, Mastercard, Victor Chu, Chairman and CEO, First Eastern Investment Group, Mellody Hobson, President, Ariel Investments, Arianna Huffington, Founder and CEO, Thrive Global, Joe Kaeser, President and CEO, Siemens AG, Lubna S. Olayan, CEO and Deputy Chairperson, Olayan Financing Company, Stephen Schwarzman, CEO, Blackstone, Masayoshi Son, CEO, SoftBank Group Corp., Tidjane Thiam, CEO, Credit Suisse Group AG and Peter Thiel, Co-Founder and Partner, Founders Fund.

https://aawsat.com/english/home/art...nounces-advisory-board-2018-future-investment