Watan-The agency “Bloomberg,” citing informed sources, revealed that Saudi Arabia has scaled back its ambitions regarding the NEOM project, which is the largest among the plans of the Crown Prince and de facto ruler of the kingdom, Mohammed bin Salman, aimed at diversifying the country’s economy away from oil.<\/p>\n
Previously, Saudi authorities planned for approximately 1.5 million people to live in “The Line” by 2030, the futuristic city with an estimated cost of around $500 billion, including parallel skyscrapers covered in mirrors stretching over 170 kilometers between mountainous and desert terrains.<\/p>\n
However, currently, Saudi officials expect the project to accommodate fewer than 300,000 residents by the same date.<\/p>\n
Sources stated that officials anticipate only completing 2.4 kilometers of the project by 2030.<\/p>\n
As a result, at least one contractor has laid off a number of workers employed at the site, according to a document reviewed by Bloomberg.<\/p>\n
The agency noted that representatives of NEOM and the Saudi Public Investment Fund, which owns and funds the project, declined to comment on requests for clarification.<\/p>\n
In addition to “The Line” project, NEOM’s plans, valued at $1.5 trillion in total, include establishing an industrial city, ports, and tourist facilities.<\/p>\n
It is also scheduled to host the 2029 Asian Winter Games in a mountain resort called “Triguna.”<\/p>\n
An industrial city, ports, and tourist facilities will be built in The Line project in NEOM. Informed individuals stated that work is ongoing in other parts of the broader NEOM project, and officials remain optimistic about the overall objectives of “The Line” project.<\/p>\n
Another development project inside NEOM is set to open this year, transforming an island in the Red Sea into a luxury tourist destination known as “Sandal.”<\/p>\n
According to sources, the delay in “The Line” project comes at a time when the Sovereign Wealth Fund has not yet approved NEOM’s budget for 2024.<\/p>\n
Diversifying Growth Sources The kingdom is implementing a strategy aimed at diversifying the country’s economic growth sources away from oil and gas exports, known as Vision 2030.<\/p>\n
Within this vision, the kingdom plans to increase spending to drive economic growth and support non-oil GDP.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Watan-The agency “Bloomberg,” citing informed sources, revealed that Saudi Arabia has scaled back its ambitions regarding the NEOM project, which is the largest among the plans of the Crown Prince and de facto ruler of the kingdom, Mohammed bin Salman, aimed at diversifying the country’s economy away from oil. Previously, Saudi authorities planned for approximately …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":8881,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[45,2833,71],"class_list":["post-8879","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-reports","tag-mohammed-bin-salman","tag-neom-project","tag-saudi-arabia"],"yoast_head":"\n