Neom opens for business in US with New York office

Unsplash/Jason Pischke

• Manhattan office to aid partnerships
• Bob Stefanowski to be MD
• Focus on sustainable tech

Saudi Arabian giga-project Neom has opened an office in New York in a move designed to attract investment from the US for its green industries. 

Neom said in a statement on February 6 that the Manhattan office would facilitate its business across the US, citing “industries, corporations, and investors” who could help in the development of the project, a futuristic city based in the northwest of the country. 

Reema bint Bandar Al Saud, the Saudi ambassador to the US, said at the opening ceremony at Hudson Yards in New York that Neom would be a “catalyst for innovation, sustainable development and economic diversification” that serves as a “blueprint for the cities of tomorrow”. 

• Neom announces exclusive beach club Xaynor
• Saudi’s Neom signs agreements to fund green hydrogen project
• Neom aquaculture venture seeks fish self-sufficiency

Neom Company has made 45 applications for names and logos to the US patent and trademark office since June 2021, including 33 in 2023.

Bob Stefanowski, who has previously held senior executive roles at General Electric, UBS and 3i Group plc, will lead the office as managing director, Neom said. 

The opening follows the launch of a London office in November, but so far Neom seems to be attracting little attention abroad.  

Neom’s major US interest to date is Neom Green Hydrogen Company, a joint venture with Air Products, an industrial gas supplier, and Acwa Power, a Saudi private enterprise, which is building what it says will be the world’s largest green hydrogen plant in Neom’s industrial city Oxagon.

Information about Neom’s main development, a 170 km-long concept city called The Line, is scant. A video released in October showed only foundational work in an empty desert. 

Most of Neom’s projects concern luxury tourism – one of the central planks of Saudi Arabia’s massive development plans aimed at diversifying the economy. 

This week, Neom launched an exclusive private beach club on the Gulf of Aqaba for “the most fascinating people in the world” called Xaynor. 

This follows a spate of announcements in recent months including the Epicon towers, the Leyja mountain hotel, the Zardun adventure tourism resort and eco-tourism resort Siranna. 

Mountain resort Trojena is to host the 2029 Asian Winter Games. 

Greg Priddy, a senior fellow at the Center for the National Interest in the United States, said that Neom did not yet feature on business radars. 

“There certainly isn’t the sort of interest they would like to see about affluent young people interested in moving to The Line or locating start-up companies there,” he said.