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Diriyah delays completion date as projects vie for funds

At-Turaif in Diriyah. Restoration and other projects in the region are now due for completion in 2030 Unsplash+/Getty Images
At-Turaif in Diriyah. Restoration and other projects in the region are now due for completion in 2030
  • Diriyah completion date now 2030
  • ‘Much to look forward to’
  • Ready for World Expo

The historical district of Diriyah, one of Saudi Arabia’s major giga-projects, will be completed in time for the World Expo in 2030 – three years later than previously announced, its CEO Jerry Inzerillo said on Wednesday. 

The giga-projects, valued in total at more than $1.25 trillion, are competing for government and private sector resources amid funding constraints caused by lower than expected oil prices and foreign investor interest. 

“It’s $64 billion – we’re on time and on budget. Now, if you look at our value, our assets, by 2030 we’ll be well over $100 billion and at some point I believe we’ll list in the future on the Saudi stock exchange,” Inzerillo told the Future Investment Initiative forum in Riyadh. 

“When we welcome people from all over the world to what will be the greatest Expo in 2030, historical Diriyah will be done, so there’s going to be much to look forward to,” he said, adding it will contain 42 luxury hotels.  

Andrew Tonnor, Diriyah Gate’s chief delivery officer, said in April that the district – which includes a residential area with an opera house and museum expected to host Leonardo Da Vinci’s Salvator Mundi – is likely to be completed by the end of 2027. 

The government is prioritising Riyadh-based projects after the capital was chosen in 2023 as the host of the 2030 World Expo. 

The global showcase event, which was held in Dubai for six months from October 2021, is already propelling real estate development in Riyadh six years before it is scheduled to take place – and, along with other giga-projects, is helping to shift the city’s core to the north.

The New Murabba project to create a new downtown in Riyadh – a late-starter among the giga-projects and also one of the most expensive – is putting an extra drain on resources. Valued at $50 billion, it also has a target of the end of 2030 in time for the World Expo. 

Diriyah has been holding discussions with foreign investors to buy equity stakes in its hotels and other real estate developments in the project, which is based around a Unesco world heritage site in Riyadh that was the early capital of the Saudi dynasty. 

Inzerillo said Diriyah would be the “jewel in the middle of the city”, with 9sq km of walkable land, and would be the lead site in Saudi Arabia’s culture and heritage tourism sector. Saudi Arabia is trying to boost tourism from 4 percent of GDP to 10 percent by 2030

A new airport is also due to open in Riyadh in 2030. It will be host to a new national airline due to start operations next year, Riyadh Air. The airport, airline and Diriyah are all owned by the sovereign wealth fund, the Public Investment Fund, which leads the reforms.