RIYADH: About 20 percent of infrastructure work in Saudi Arabia’s $500 billion megacity, NEOM, has been completed, according to a top official.
NEOM CEO Nadmi Al-Nasr said in an interview with Al Arabiya TV that work on the future city is progressing according to schedule.
Upon completion, the project is set to run on 100 percent renewable energy, and will comprise a number of megaprojects.
To showcase the works, NEOM released a video earlier this week showing the rapid progress being made on the project.
The video includes real world footage of large scale construction in NEOM areas including The Line, Trojena, Oxagon and the luxury island development project Sindalah.
Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman launched the Sindalah Island project, which will expand over an area of approximately 840,000 square meters and serve as the main gateway for guests to the Red Sea from early 2024.
The video sets out key achievements to be made in 2022, including the launch of Tonomus, the first company to be established as a wholly owned subsidiary of NEOM that will integrate artificial intelligence technology into the mega project’s buildings.
The three-minute clip shows construction workers being deployed to lay the foundation stone for the megaproject.
“A unique project on a large scale, with 95 per cent of the land already protected for nature, is being built where animals are being brought back to their natural habitat,” the clip said.
The video also featured the works that are currently underway at Trojena, the mountain destination that will host the 2029 Asian Winter Games.
In December, during an exclusive interview with Arab News, Peter Fitzharding, Head of Tourism Marketing at NEOM, said that the 2029 Asian Winter Games in Trojena will show how NEOM will use innovation to deliver the event in a careful manner.
“NEOM is about innovation. I think now, not only do we have to launch Trozena to show the vision, but we also have to show how we can make the Asian Winter Games a reality so that people can enjoy the Winter Games at NEOM. can participate in.”
The clip also shows the works that are underway at OXAGON, a futuristic industrial city which is believed to be the largest floating industrial complex in the world when completed.
Speaking to Arab News at the World Travel and Tourism Council Global Summit in Riyadh on November 30, Al-Nasr said that OXAGON also has the potential to become a world-class tourist destination, where visitors can come and see what the future holds. How is it going to be
“It is in OXAGON where all the industries will be, and it is the port of NEOM. Nevertheless, we would like to see tourists spending a day or two in OXAGON. They will see the future of industries in OXAGON. Everything in NEOM is for the future era. We want them to come and see how the sea ports of the future will work.
Another subsidiary that was to be launched in 2022 was Anova, responsible for managing NEOM’s sustainable energy and water systems. Anova will also house the world’s largest green hydrogen plant that will catalyze NEOM’s sustainability journey.
“At NEOM, we are solving some of the most pressing challenges facing humanity by bringing together a community of the brightest minds committed to creating what a sustainable future will look like in 20 to 30 years, and today. We Redefining the future now. NEOM is open for business,” Al-Nasr said in a separate statement.
It also highlighted NEOM’s $175 million investment in “Volocopter, the next generation of transportation”.
“That’s why athletes from 25 countries compete at the NEOM Beach Games and that’s why Ennismore, the planet’s fastest growing lifestyle brand, has become the first hotel partner for Trozena,” said the narrator in the video.
Saudi Arabia’s national carrier Saudi Arabia still offers direct flights to NEOM from London and Dubai.
The video also highlights NEOM’s growing media sector, which has supported 25 productions in 18 months, working with names such as the BBC, Apple TV and NBC.
NEOM also partnered with McLaren to drive innovation and talent development in electrical motorsport. In collaboration with the Asian Football Confederation, the megacity also launched the Shuhab Community Program to “develop the next generation of Saudi footballers”.
The video also highlighted Neom’s efforts with OceanX to “protect the secrets hidden at the bottom of the Red Sea”.