Saudi megaproject Neom courts Chinese investors

The project led by powerful Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS), and whose construction could cost $500 billion, was launched in 2017.

It should notably house a futuristic ski resort and a 170 kilometer long building, built from the Gulf of Aqaba across the desert, according to its promoters.

After passing through Beijing and Shanghai, the tour stopped for two days in Hong Kong, to show a spectacular presentation of the project to potential investors.

Neom aims to strike a balance between "nature protection, human habitability and economic prosperity", its executive director, Tarek Qaddumi, told journalists after a visit to the project's exhibition at the M+ Museum in Hong Kong. Kong.

“This is probably the most exciting and visionary initiative of the 21st century,” he said.

However, no major agreement was announced during this tour.

The exhibition helped make Neom "less mysterious" and guests at a reception dedicated to the project had "rather neutral" reactions, observed Leonard Chan, president of the Hong Kong Innovative Technology Development Association.

But the Hong Konger does not say he is ready to live in the centerpiece of the project, The Line, a building with two mirrored facades planned to extend 170 kilometers across the desert.

"I will visit it for pleasure, but I will not live there. It feels like SimCity," he told AFP.

Plato Yip, president of the Hong Kong NGO Friends of the Earth, who discusses green hydrogen with Neom, also believes that The Line "gives the impression of being locked in a cage, even if it is very comfortable".

Downward revision?

By unveiling The Line in 2022, Prince MBS announced that it would house more than a million inhabitants in 2030, and nine million in 2045.

But the developers have revised their ambitions to 300.000 inhabitants and 2,4 kilometers of the project built by the end of the decade, according to the Bloomberg agency. Neom did not respond to requests for clarification.

In front of a model of The Line - a sparkling blade plunging into the land from the Red Sea - Mr. Qaddumi just said on Friday that the objective of nine million inhabitants would be reached "over time".

The complex is to open onto the Gulf of Aqaba, and include a “hidden marina”. Tunnels will allow crossing the desert mountains and an airport is planned with a capacity of 100 million passengers per year, he detailed.

"You'll get off the plane and walk into the city. We'll take all the hassle out of going through an airport, whether it's immigration, security." "Your luggage will be sent directly to your address."

A luxury resort that can accommodate a flotilla of yachts in the island of Sindalah will be "completed by the end of the year", according to Mr Qaddumi.

Trojena, a futuristic ski resort with an artificial lake and 36 kilometers of slopes, is to be completed before 2029, for the Asian Winter Games.

Other elements will be built "after 2030", Mr Qaddumi said.

Attract investors

The project is being carried out in parallel with other major projects as part of "Vision 2030", intended to ensure the development of the world's leading crude exporting country in a potential oil-free future.

Last year, Riyadh, the only candidate, won the organization of the 2034 Football World Cup, and has a decade to build the stadiums and adequate infrastructure.

Finance Minister Mohammed al-Jadaan indicated in December that the timetable for some major projects would be pushed back beyond 2030, without specifying which ones.

Robert Mogielnicki of the Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington notes that projects linked to specific events will likely be prioritized. “The Saudis are not going to be able to move at a hundred miles an hour in all directions on the development front indefinitely.”

Riyadh needs to attract a flow of foreign investment in different sectors. And “it’s no secret that they haven’t gotten there yet.”