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Giga-projects

Saudi Arabia giga-projects news covering Neom, AlUla, Roshn, Amaala, Red Sea Global, Diriyah, Qiddiya, Expo 2030 and more.

Giga-projects overview

Giga-projects news

Saudi Arabia has spent billions on consultancy, including drawing on Western companies, but spending is likely to fall

End of ‘blank cheque’ culture for Saudi consultancy

Saudi Arabia remains a boom town for the global consultancy industry, but experts have warned it is no longer the land of milk and honey for international operators and there is now a tighter hold being placed on budgets. The Saudi consultancy market, the largest in the GCC, expanded by 18.2 percent in 2023 with […]

Neom's Jaumur resort. Saudi Arabia aims to expand strategic spending through 2025 on development and giga-projects

Saudi Arabia estimates 2025 budget funding at $37bn

Saudi Arabia will need estimated funding of SAR139 billion ($37.02 billion) in 2025 to cover the potential budget deficit. Finance minister Mohammed Al Jadaan has approved the borrowing plan, the National Debt Management Cente said in a statement. The ministry anticipates a budget deficit of SAR101 billion for the year, with nearly SAR38 billion of […]

Volocopter CEO Dirk Hoke expects funds to be found, saying his is 'an attractive company to invest in' while it restructures

Neom’s air taxi partner Volocopter files for insolvency

Volocopter, the German air taxi developer backed by Saudi Arabia’s Neom giga-project, has filed for insolvency, blaming difficulties in securing fresh funding. The company, whose high-profile backers include Mercedes-Benz, Honeywell, Daimler, Intel and Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance Group, said its operations would continue during the insolvency proceedings as it seeks new investors. The insolvency raises concerns […]

Developer Seven says the Jazan venue will feature several attractions, including an indoor golf course

Seven awards $346m contract for new entertainment venue

Saudi Arabian developer Seven is investing SAR1.3 billion ($346 million) to develop a new entertainment destination in the Jazan region. The development has been awarded to Riyadh-based Alfanar Projects. Located adjacent to the North Corniche Park along Jazan’s waterfront, it will span more than 60,000 sq m, with 73,000 sq m of built-up space. Designed […]

A worker restoring the Diriyah district. Excavated materials will be crushed and repurposed for road bases and landscaping

Diriyah begins second-phase work with $202m contract

Diriyah Company, backed by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, has awarded a SAR758.5 million ($202.2 million) contract to China Harbour Engineering Company for bulk excavation works in the second phase of the Diriyah giga-project. The excavation will span 6.3 sq km, covering much of the second phase of the 14 sq km development. More than 600 […]

Construction worker pours concrete on rebar using concrete pump

Neom invests in Danish robotics company

Neom Investment Fund (NIF) has invested in a Danish robotics company that specialises in automation technology for the construction industry. NIF, the investment arm of Saudi Arabia’s $500 billion futuristic giga-project Neom, will put funding into GMT Robotics, which builds robotic systems for the rebar concrete-reinforcing sector. The value of the investment was not revealed.  […]

Saudi Red Sea coral

Red Sea coral to get extra protection from tourists

Saudi Arabia has vowed to implement a series of measures to protect its Red Sea coral reef over the next five years as it pushes ahead with major tourism projects in the area. But experts have warned that Saudi coral remains at risk, even with major spending policies.  According to the National Red Sea Sustainability […]

The five-year pact between PIF and Bpifrance Assurance Export will focus on projects supporting Vision 2030

PIF secures $10bn from French export credit agency

Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund has signed an agreement with Bpifrance Assurance Export, a French export credit agency, to seek funding for up to $10 billion. The five-year pact will focus on projects supporting Vision 2030 and is aligned with the fund’s strategy to grow build long-term global partnerships. The agreement will unlock new opportunities for French […]

A construction site in Abu Dhabi. The Adpic programme aims to transform the emirate's tourism sector as well as housing and transport

$54bn private investment sought for Abu Dhabi infrastructure

Abu Dhabi is overseeing more than 600 infrastructure projects valued at more than AED200 billion ($54 billion), representing an opportunity for the private sector to collaborate on a pipeline of projects that are integral to the emirate’s Economic Vision 2030 plan, a senior official said. The projects, being led by the Abu Dhabi Projects and […]

Construction work in Riyadh. The Saudi capital is hoping to draw private sector funding for massive projects such as Expo 2030

Riyadh hopes to entice private sector to landmark projects 

Riyadh is courting private-sector investors to fuel its ambitious development agenda, offering significant opportunities but grappling with resistance from companies citing financial risks, a senior official said. The push to involve private firms highlights Saudi Arabia’s challenges as it transitions from government-led development to growth driven by the private sector, a pillar of its Vision […]

Since last year a new framework has supported foreign law firms’ creation of joint ventures with local counterparts, through acquisitions or Saudi subsidiaries

Rise in major US law firms setting up in Saudi Arabia

Attracted by the host of complex and potentially lucrative legal issues raised by Saudi Arabia’s development push, several of the largest law firms in the US are formally setting up shop in the kingdom, either directly or through mergers and acquisitions. Among those making the leap is Atlanta-based company King & Spalding. A spokesperson confirmed […]

Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman said the positive economic indicators were due to the ongoing Vision 2030 reforms

Saudi Arabia forecasts 2025 fiscal deficit of $27bn

Saudi Arabia has approved its 2025 state budget, which estimates total revenues at SAR1.18 trillion ($314 billion) and expenditures at SAR1.28 trillion – resulting in a fiscal deficit of SAR101 billion ($26.9 billion). The finance ministry said this would represent 2.3 percent of gross domestic product, which is lower than the 3 percent of GDP […]

Experts say private sector involvement in the construction sector is likely to grow further in coming years

Private money leading charge in Saudi construction industry

Private sector participation in Saudi Arabia’s construction industry is powering investment in the sector, according to a senior economist. Overall gross fixed capital formation – a measure of investment in an economy’s infrastructure, schools and other physical assets, as well as related tools and machinery – is up 3 percent year on year in the […]

Diriyah Company CEO Jerry Inzerillo said that Diriyah will once more become "a gathering place for the world"

Saudi’s Diriyah adds cultural districts to $63bn plan

Diriyah Company, backed by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, has started construction on multi-billion dollar educational and arts districts in the $63.2 billion giga-project. Spanning an area of 14 sq km, the “world’s biggest urban development projects” will house the Qurain Cultural District and Northern District. The Qurain Cultural District will include a range of arts, […]

In the absence of any concrete structures as yet, Neom exhibitors provided virtual reality sets to give throngs of curious visitors a sense of what The Line will look like

Leaders of The Line share vision of a brave new world

Its managers and designers say it is the human society of the future, but others might see in it a dystopian vision of life shielded in a glass box from an uninhabitable world.  Leading figures behind the Neom city The Line – the boldest of Saudi Arabia’s $1.25 trillion giga-projects – made a coordinated pitch […]

One goal for the kingdom's giga-projects is to 'provide for Saudis and Saudi families'

Saudi giga-projects are going local with new focus

A nationalist sensitivity towards the leadership and aims of Saudi Arabia’s massive giga-projects is slowly taking hold, as foreign CEOs are swapped out for locals and the government makes a stronger push on housing for Saudi citizens.  Last month, the King Abdullah Financial District replaced its Indian CEO Guatam Sashiittal with Mohammed Alsudairy – head […]

Roshn was established to deliver 400,000 homes under the Vision 2030 goal of reaching 70 percent homeownership; ownership was at 64 percent in 2023

Banks vying to fund Roshn’s Saudi expansion

Saudi real estate developer Roshn, a subsidiary of the Public Investment Fund (PIF), is reporting strong interest from banks eager to finance its projects, and demand is so high that some lenders have been turned away, according to a senior executive. In contrast to this momentum, Saudi Arabia’s other giga-projects face financing constraints, with resources […]

Businessmen watch an on-screen presentation of Saudi Arabia's Trojena project at the Mipim in Cannes.

Neom’s Trojena to launch first apartment sales in new year

The Saudi winter resort of Trojena will begin putting its first residential apartments and villas on the market within a few months, a senior official said on Wednesday, after its parent company Neom announced a new CEO in an effort to reinvigorate the giga-project.  “2025 is very exciting for us at Trojena, we’re hoping early […]

Grover was recruited as CEO in 2020 to lead Roshn’s construction of 400,000 homes as part of Vision 2030

Former CEO sues Roshn for $100m over ‘unpaid bonuses’

The former CEO of Roshn, David Grover, is suing the Saudi property developer for more than $100 million, claiming unpaid bonuses and wrongful termination.  Grover, who lost the initial stage of his case against the state-owned company in October, has appealed to a higher court in Riyadh, the Financial Times reports. Grover alleges that Roshn […]

Saudi Arabia says Vision 2030 will create housing for ordinary citizens, not just tourism projects Video length: 06:30

Minister trumpets Saudi Arabia’s $168bn housing push

Real estate transactions in Saudi Arabia have totalled $168 billion so far this year, the Saudi minister of municipalities and housing, Majed Al Hogail, told a real estate forum in Riyadh this week. Speaking at the Cityscape exhibition, which is trying to promote Riyadh-centred giga-projects, the minister said that Saudi Arabia is pushing to finish […]

Nadhmi Al Nasr, a veteran of state oil giant Aramco, had overseen Neom since its launch but has now been replaced as CEO Video length: 06:30

Neom replaces CEO in bid to move past negative headlines

Saudi megacity Neom has replaced its CEO Nadhmi Al Nasr in an apparent effort to boost the kingdom’s highest-profile giga-project after a string of delays.  Aiman Al Mudaifer has been appointed “acting CEO of the company”, Neom said in a statement on Tuesday. “Al Mudaifer assumes the leadership of Neom following Nadhmi Al Nasr’s departure.”  […]