Description
“Progress has been limited,” says Dr Andreas Krieg, a Gulf specialist at the Institute of Middle Eastern Studies at King’s College London. “People who have visited Neom have described it as small pockets of development here and there but nothing really integrated.“Given how personally attached he is to the project, I imagine it will be built in a form that can be claimed to be ‘complete’, although I would be very surprised if that looks anything like the current renders.”
The project serves a strategic purpose, suggests Dr Krieg, developing a remote area on the Red Sea that could allow Riyadh to forge new connections with the region and beyond, potentially including Israel if US-led negotiations over a normalisation deal are successful.
The development also serves as an advertisement for the Kingdom and its grand ambition, he believes.
“These megaprojects are basically a representation of progress in Saudi Arabia and whether they realise it or not doesn’t really matter,” said Dr Krieg.
“It creates a buzz in the global discourse, attracts interest from global companies, and puts Saudi Arabia on the map.”
| Period | 20 May 2024 |
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Keywords
- Saudi Arabia