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
Video length: 06:07 VIDEO Leisure & Hospitality Qiddiya to host Dragon Ball theme park Qiddiya, the Saudi Arabian entertainment city, plans to build a theme park based on the blockbuster Dragon Ball anime series. The Japanese franchise owner said on March 22 that the 500,000 square metre site would recreate locations from the original print and television cartoon series such as Kame House, Capsule Corporation and Beerus’s Planet, and […] March 22, 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
Industry Demand for Saudi mining licences rises sharply Incentives and legislation are fuelling growth in Saudi Arabia’s mining industry as the government seeks to stimulate investment under Vision 2030. The Ministry of Industry and Mineral Resources said demand for Saudi mining licences had surged since a mining investment law came into force in 2021. The number of building material quarry licences jumped to […] March 20, 2024
Giga-projects Red Sea Global says first hotels are open Red Sea Global, one of Saudi Arabia’s main giga-projects, said this week it has opened two hotels. Ben Edwards, group head of cost, commercial and procurement, said in a conference call on March 20 that Six Senses and St. Regis hotels had opened at the Red Sea Global site south of the remote town of […] March 20, 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
Analysis Banking and Finance Liquidity strain set to push Saudi banks to seek more funds Saudi Arabian banks’ loan books are set to expand faster than their deposits again in 2024, raising costs and pushing lenders to seek additional funding sources. However, the kingdom’s banks are expected to increase their annual profits this year as government-led infrastructure projects and likely cuts to benchmark interest rates boost margins for its two […] March 20, 2024
Food & Drink Almarai’s $4.8bn push to advance Saudi food security Almarai, the Middle East’s largest dairy farm, will spend more than SAR18 billion ($4.8 billion) under its new five-year strategic plan to achieve food security, which is part of the kingdom’s Vision 2030 goal. “Investment in the food industry contributes to achieving food security in the kingdom and the region,” the company said in a […] March 19, 2024
Finance Saudi PIF ‘interested’ in buying stake in UK Selfridges Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) is looking to buy a stake in British luxury department store Selfridges after the collapse of one of its owners, as it seeks ways to improve funding flows to Saudi giga-projects. Austrian company Signa faces insolvency, opening up its 50 percent share in Selfridges to acquisition. The other owner […] March 18, 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
Analysis Trade Saudi Arabia courts China’s Shandong province Saudi Arabia is targeting more investment from the Chinese province of Shandong after hosting a delegation of more than 200 private sector and government officials. The Economic Cities and Special Zones Authority (ECZA), in collaboration with Invest Saudi, entertained the visitors last week with the aim of cultivating investment prospects for Chinese enterprises considering expansion […] March 14, 2024
Construction London architect HKS to design Diriyah’s 20,000-seat Arena Saudi Arabia has hired a London-based architecture practice to design a sports and entertainment venue in Riyadh’s historic district of Diriyah, close to the site where a landmark opera house will be built. “The architecture rises from the landscape as a series of monoliths, evoking local geological formations and alluding to ancient Nadji forts and […] March 13, 2024
Opinion Economy Progress report on Vision 2030: so far, so good Saudi Arabia’s economic health is still reliant on global oil markets, but this dependency is reducing March 12, 2024
Opinion Infrastructure Saving the old with the new: how tech can revive historic cities Technology can help protect heritage locations from multiple modern threats 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
Analysis Business of Sport Saudi Arabia gives boxing a chance to reinvent itself World heavyweight champion Tyson Fury is no stranger to hyperbole. Thus only a few eyebrows were raised when he boldly claimed that boxing would be “dead” if it wasn’t for Saudi Arabia. The sport was looking decidedly punch-drunk before Saudi Arabia entered the ring almost six years ago. The first boxing card in Jeddah that […] March 7, 2024
Analysis Economy Volatility of crude markets masks Saudi non-oil momentum Volatility in global oil markets, which led to Saudi Arabia’s GDP shrinking last year, is masking the strength of the kingdom’s non-oil economy, analysts have said. Its non-oil revenue is forecast to rise by more than 5 percent in each of the next two years, according to Jadwa Investment. The 2023 contraction was driven by […] March 5, 2024
Analysis Construction Foreign expertise vital for Saudi construction Saudi Arabia’s construction industry needs more foreign involvement if achieving its Vision 2030 goals is to become a reality, according to attendees of the Big 5 conference in Riyadh. In the first half of 2023 alone $44 billion worth of new projects were awarded in the kingdom’s $140 billion construction sector, according to real estate […] February 29, 2024
Tourism Saudi Arabia hits tourism target seven years early More than 106 million tourists visited Saudi Arabia last year, surpassing the kingdom’s 2030 target and prompting it to set a new goal of welcoming 150 million annual visitors by the end of the decade, according to the Ministry of Tourism. Achieving the milestone target of the Vision 2030 economic roadmap seven years early cements […] February 28, 2024
