Saudi Arabia says NEOM projects including The Line aren’t actually being scaled back
- It seemed like the NEOM megaproject was facing setbacks in its schedule
- However, Saudi Arabia has made a statement confirming that The Line and other developments will go ahead as planned
- The $1.5 trillion futuristic desert project sits on the coast of the Red Sea
Published on Apr 30, 2024 at 2:23 PM (UTC+4)
by Amelia Jean Hershman-Jones
Last updated on Apr 30, 2024 at 5:56 PM (UTC+4)
Edited by
Adam Gray
While it seemed like the NEOM mega-project was facing setbacks in its schedule, Saudi Arabia has made a statement confirming that The Line and other developments will go ahead as planned.
The Kingdom’s $1.5 trillion NEOM is a futuristic desert project sitting on the coast of the Red Sea.
And thankfully, it turns out the reports of scaling back from early April aren’t accurate.
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It was reported that The Line, which was projected to stretch for 105 miles across the Saudi desert by 2030, would have its scope reduced by 98.6% to just 1.5 miles by the deadline.
A video was previously posted to LinkedIn by Giles Pendleton, the chief operating officer of the project, offering a glimpse into the astounding momentum and scale of The Line.
Saudi Economy Minister, Faisal Al Ibrahim, spoke to CNBC in Riyadh to refute these claims.
“For NEOM, the projects, the intended scale is continuing as planned. There is no change in scale,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Kingdom’s economy minister had a message of positivity regarding the megaproject.
“All projects are moving full steam ahead,” Faisal Al Ibrahim told CNBC.
“We set out to do something unprecedented and we’re doing something unprecedented, and we will deliver something that’s unprecedented.”
As part of the $1.5 trillion NEOM mega-project, Saudi Arabia originally estimated that the futuristic city ‘The Line’ would be home to 1.5 million people by 2030.
However, those lofty estimates were reportedly being scaled back to 300,000 in the medium term.
The Bloomberg source close to the project claimed that only 2.4 kilometers (1.5 miles) of that was expected to be completed by the 2030 deadline.
Bloomberg cited an unnamed source who’s close to the giga-project.
Despite this, fresh behind-the-scenes images have revealed The Line’s transport network taking shape.
The purported scaling back of plans came amid alleged concerns over finances for NEOM, which is part of the kingdom’s broader Vision 2030 initiative to diversify its economy away from oil.
Funded by the country’s Public Investment Fund (PIF), the aim is to allow the Kingdom’s economy to diversify away from oil and focus instead on tech and innovation.
PIF has not yet approved NEOM’s budget for 2024, according to Bloomberg’s report.
Al Ibrahim stressed that, while the projects would be delivered by the deadline, decisions were being made for ‘optimal economic impact’.
“Today the economy in the kingdom is growing faster, but we don’t want to overheat it. We don’t want to deliver these projects at the cost of importing too much against our own interest.
“We will continue delivering these projects in a manner that meets these priorities, delivers these projects, and has the optimal healthy impact for our economy and the … healthy non-oil growth within it.”
Al Ibrahim also explained that the developments within NEOM are seeing growing investor interest.
“Keep in mind that these sectors didn’t exist in the past. They’re being built from scratch. They require some investment and going all in from the government and the sovereign wealth fund,” he said.
“And we’re seeing increased investor interest on all of these projects.
“These projects will be delivered to their scale and in a manner that in terms of priorities suits the needs of the projects, the returns of these projects, and the economic impact.
“It’s like minimizing any leakage, minimizing any overheating risks as well.”
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All Supercar Blondie contributors undergo editorial review and fact-checking to ensure accuracy and authority in automotive journalism. After gaining her BA Hons in French and English at the University of Nottingham, Amelia embarked on a vocational diploma from the National Council for the Training of Journalists (NCTJ). This led to numerous opportunities, from interning at Vogue to being on the small team that launched Women’s Health magazine in the UK, which was named the PPA Consumer magazine of the year for three years running. As Health, Beauty and Fitness editor, Amelia personally received a Johnson & Johnson Award and was shortlisted for both PPA and BSME titles. Since then, Amelia has created content for numerous titles and brands, including the Telegraph, 111 Skin, Waitrose, Red magazine, Stylist, and Elle, as well as being Head of Content at Vitality and Editor in Chief at INLondon magazine. “My superpower is translating technical jargon about the mechanical workings of a supercar into a relatable story you’ll want to share with your friends after you’ve read it.” After joining the SB Media family as a senior journalist in September of 2023, Amelia’s role has evolved to see her heading up the SEO output of the editorial team. From researching the most ‘Google-able’ key terms to producing evergreen content - it’s been a time of hard work, growth, and success for the editorial team and the Supercar Blondie website. “I like to think of myself as a ‘method journalist’. In other words: I live and breathe whatever I am writing about. When writing about fitness, I trained as a personal trainer, and as a beauty editor, I completed an ‘expert’ in scent diploma with the Fragrance Foundation. “During my tenure at Supercar Blondie, however, I did something I never thought possible: I passed my driving test at the age of 36. One day I’d love to train as a mechanic to better understand what happens under the hood, too. “My sweet spot is providing readers with a ‘takeaway’ (read: something new they didn’t know before) after reading every one of my stories. While I don’t claim to be an expert in the automotive world, I know the experts and bodies in the field to rely on to provide our readers with an informative and thought-provoking story every time they visit the site.”
