Giga-projects Neom to create ‘bridge’ hotel US hospitality company Equinox Hotels will open its first hotel in Magna, a lifestyle coastal destination within the Neom giga project. Equinox Resort Treyam will be designed as a 450m long bridge-like structure that will appear to float 40m above a lagoon. The hotel will feature guest rooms and suites, a 450m pool, new culinary […] July 23, 2024
Analysis Renewable Energy Saudi summons energy to unearth geothermal potential A Saudi Arabian university has completed drilling a research well as the kingdom steps up efforts to harness its geothermal potential – which industry experts estimate could free up to 1 million barrels of oil a day for export. The 400m deep observation well was drilled by a team from King Abdullah University of Science […] June 13, 2024
Giga-projects Neom brands its 12 Red Sea resorts as ‘Magna’ Saudi Arabian giga-project Neom said this week that 12 Red Sea coastal resorts for the ultra-rich that it has rolled out over the past year would be branded collectively under the name Magna. Last month Neom announced its twelfth project, Jaumur, the latest in a series of separate announcements of futuristic resorts inside Neom, an […] June 6, 2024
Giga-projects Saudi review says 87% of Vision 2030 projects ‘on right track’ Saudi Arabia’s top economic body discussed the progress of the kingdom’s Vision 2030 plan this week, citing a recent government report that 87 percent of its projects are “on the right track”. The Council of Economic and Development Affairs, which is headed by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, convened on May 28 in a meeting […] May 30, 2024
Industry PIF launches space unit, despite Saudi funding constraints Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund has launched a space unit to develop off-planet commercial activities, despite challenges the sovereign wealth fund faces funding Saudi Arabia’s giga-projects. The PIF-owned Neo Space Group will invest in satellite navigation and communications, Earth observation and remote sensing. It will also include a venture capital fund to help Saudi startups […] May 28, 2024
Giga-projects Diriyah giga-project to open first hotel in November Diriyah, one of Saudi Arabia’s leading giga-projects, will finally open its first hotel in November along with other attractions and sites, its CEO said this week. “This November we’ll open another few kilometres of parks, we’ll open our first Bab Samhan hotel, we’ll open our first museum which is the Diriyah Art Futures Museum, we’ll […] May 16, 2024
Giga-projects Affluent tourists around the globe on Saudi Arabia’s radar Saudi Arabia will invest more than $800 billion in its main giga-projects by the next decade as part of a tourism expansion strategy focused on affluent tourists in China, India and Europe. The kingdom’s tourism minister Ahmed Al-Khateeb, speaking at the Qatar Investment Forum, said: “We’re building and investing in major destinations like Neom, Red […] May 16, 2024
Giga-projects Neom announces superyacht resort on Gulf of Aqaba Plans to build a high-end resort town on the Gulf of Aqaba aimed at the luxury yacht community have been announced by Neom, despite rising doubts about Saudi Arabia’s ability to maintain funding lines for the country’s giga-projects. The new project, Jaumur, was described by Neom as an “exclusive residential community set around an inspiring […] May 9, 2024
Video length: 07:03 VIDEO Giga-projects Neom secures $2.7bn as minister admits ‘adjustments’ Saudi Arabia’s $500 billion giga-project Neom has secured new funding as the kingdom’s officials admit some of its Vision 2030 projects may have to be scaled back. The SAR10 billion ($2.7 billion) revolving credit facility, obtained from nine Saudi-listed banks, will support short-term financing requirements for projects such as Trojena, The Line, and Oxagon, Neom said […] April 29, 2024
Trade 300 UK company chiefs to descend on Riyadh for expo The UK is sending hundreds of business executives to a trade expo in Riyadh in May as part of a year-long drive to win contracts in Saudi Arabia, as the Gulf state seeks to increase foreign investment in its giga-projects. “The Great Futures launch event in Riyadh on 14-15 May 2024 aims to bring to […] April 23, 2024
Video length: 07:03 Analysis Giga-projects Saudi Arabia strives to counter giga-project doubts As Saudi Arabia ramps up its global tour to attract more giga-project investment, doubts have begun to set in over costs and whether they will meet the imminent 2030 deadline. The kingdom’s officials put on a big show at an international real estate event in Cannes in March and this week Neom kicked off the […] April 18, 2024
Giga-projects Neom increases workforce to get vision over the line The pace of construction on Saudi Arabia’s $500 billion giga-project Neom is to accelerate, with the workforce rising by almost half by next year. The number of people employed in construction will increase from more than 140,000 to more than 200,000 in 2025, the developer said in a statement, after reports of construction workers being […] April 15, 2024
Giga-projects Neom and Jeddah offer appeal to expat buyers Many expatriates in Saudi Arabia are interested in buying property in Neom and Jeddah Central and willing to spend over $1 million, a real estate survey showed this week. “When asked about which giga-project they would most like to buy a home to live in, Neom emerges as the clear favourite, followed by Jeddah Central […] April 2, 2024
Video length: 06:07 VIDEO Giga-projects Saudi giga-project designs to merge tradition and futurism Saudi Arabia wants to ensure that the futurism of its giga-projects does not smother the diversity of its local architecture, according to the head of the government’s Architecture and Design Commission. One of the most striking features of the kingdom’s transformation plan launched in 2016 has been its design – from otherworldly resorts planned for […] March 27, 2024
Agriculture Hydroponics allows family to become first Saudi tomato exporter A family company has become the first exporter of tomatoes from Saudi Arabia, thanks to drip irrigation, which has made sending fruit and vegetables from the Gulf to lucrative European markets economically viable. Dava, a private company set up by the Batal family in 2017, began exporting various types of tomato and “snack peppers” – […] March 26, 2024
Video length: 1:51 Giga-projects Three miles of the 100-mile Line city to be built by 2030 Only the first phase of Saudi Arabia’s futuristic 100-mile-long city The Line, covering three miles around a lagoon in the Gulf of Aqaba, will be completed by 2030, a senior official has revealed. The entire project, a horizontal city inside the Neom giga-project in the shape of a straight line 220 yards (200 metres) wide […] March 22, 2024
Giga-projects Neom unveils bridge resort with world’s longest infinity pool Saudi Arabia’s main giga-project, Neom, has announced another luxury tourism project, called Treyam, a 450-metre bridge over a lagoon in the Gulf of Aqaba featuring the world’s longest infinity pool and a hotel with glass floors. Publicity material released on March 21 shows the infinity pool along the length of a bridge over two sides […] March 21, 2024
Giga-projects Work underway on cube at centre of New Murabba giga-project The company building New Murabba, one of Saudi Arabia’s biggest giga-projects, said this week that construction was underway on the development’s centrepiece: a cubic structure being marketed as “large enough to hold 20 Empire State Buildings”. The New Murabba Development Company, which is owned by the Saudi Public Investment Fund, is charged with creating a […] March 20, 2024
EXCLUSIVE Giga-projects Trojena winter resort aims to be Neom’s inaugural site The Saudi winter resort of Trojena will be completed and ready to open in 2027 ahead of the 2029 Asian Winter Games, a spokesman said this week, making it the first project inside the futuristic city Neom to come online. Developers are under pressure to finish the giga-projects at the heart of Saudi Arabia’s economic […] March 18, 2024
Sustainability Saudi company faces blowback over water use in Arizona The US state of Arizona has cancelled land lease deals with a subsidiary of the Saudi dairy company Almarai after complaints of groundwater being depleted in the arid region. The cancellation highlights tensions over corporations controlling foreign land for food security. In 2014 Almarai’s Fondomonte bought and leased thousands of acres in Arizona and California, […] March 12, 2024
Economy Riyadh revises GDP but pins hopes on non-oil activity Saudi Arabia has revised its real GDP figure for 2023 to a contraction of 0.8 percent, from a contraction of 0.9 percent. Oil production cuts hit the Saudi economy last year, while analysts are predicting a slide in crude prices this year. Oil activities decreased by 9 percent in 2023, while non-oil activities increased by […] March 11, 2024
Video length: 06:07 Analysis Giga-projects Big events take priority for stretched Saudi builders There will be delays in delivering Saudi Arabia’s massive construction pipeline in time for 2030, but projects directly linked to specific international events such as the Asian Winter Games in 2029 will take priority, industry players told AGBI at the Big5 conference in Riyadh last week. About $1 trillion in giga-projects are under way across […] March 7, 2024
