Saudi Arabia earmarks $500bn for new NEOM special economic zone

Saudi Arabia has earmarked $500bn of investment and agreed with neighbours Egypt and Jordan to set aside a 'beautiful and breezy' plot of land to develop technology in nine sectors "targeting the future of human civilisation" as part of the new 'NEOM' project launched on Tuesday.

As Saudi attempts to reduce its reliance on oil, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman al-Saud set out details of this key part of his vision to transform the kingdom by 2030 by creating an "independent" special economic zone with favourable business laws and a urban layout designed from scratch across three countries.

Looking to attract investment and workers to his economic Shangri La, the prince also pledged to return the kingdom to "moderate Islam" and aimed to "end extremism".

An area spanning 26,500 sq km has been set aside for Neom in the north west of the Kingdom, overlooking the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aqaba, and including territory from within the Egyptian and Jordanian borders.

Neom will focus on developing nine sectors, Prince Mohammed said, to "stimulate growth and economic diversification, enable manufacturing processes, and create and promote the local industry at a global level".

The nine sectors span "the future of": energy and water, transport, biotechnology, food, technical and digital sciences, manufacturing and materials, information and media production, entertainment and, last but not least, "the future of living" as the region's foundation - a reference to the intention to urban planning design for the area focused on housing, education, security and safety, green spaces, healthcare, hospitality and hotels.

These sectors are expected to return about $70 billion in revenue back into Saudi Arabia, the Saudi Press Agency said, "by way of commodities currently imported from abroad, through the potential of local production of vehicles, machinery and communication equipment".

The 32-year-old prince said the glorified investment park will be built on private investments and governmental investments and partnerships, and it "will be supported by more than $500bn in the coming years" by the Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF) "as well as local and international investors".

Part of the attraction for oil-drenched Saudi Arabia is that the project will provide new opportunities for domestic investment in previously non-existent sectors, with an environment that adopts favourable business laws and a system conducive to growth, also an attempt to curtail "investment leakage" from domestic investors.

The location of the zone is, according to a flowery description from the press agency and pushed hard at the flashy discoverneom website, at "the meeting point of the best in the Arab region, Asia, Africa, Europe and America" and, looking to attract a global workforce, is noted to sit at a height of 2,500 meters above sea level with a "beautiful breeze which contributes to moderate temperatures, and the sun and wind will allow the project region full dependence on alternative energy".

Notably, in a kingdom which has far from the best human rights record, NEOM will adopt as the uppermost of its six "futuristic" social pillars the concept of "human beings as a top priority", with intention to create "an idyllic society that promotes inclusion and encourages personal growth and lives by world-class social norms".

Said Prince Mohammed: "We are returning to what we were before - a country of moderate Islam that is open to all religions and to the world."

He added: "We will not spend the next 30 years of our lives dealing with destructive ideas. We will destroy them today. We will end extremism very soon."