DM Monitoring
RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s mega-city project is reportedly seeking to raise a 10 billion riyal, or $2.7 billion, loan to help fuel the development of the kingdom’s futuristic city in the desert.
Neom, the company behind the venture, is turning to local lenders as it seeks to finance the early stages of the project, Bloomberg reported. A loan could be agreed within months, it said. The Neom development is expected to include two huge buildings as part of a project known as The Line. It aims to be a “civilizational revolution that puts humans first,” The Wall Street Journal first reported, citing a video in which Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman discussed the project.
According to the Neom website, The Line will be just over 100 miles long and 200 meters wide, and will have no roads and cars. It will sit 500 meters above sea level on the border of the Red Sea with mirror-like walls encasing it.
Saudia Arabia hopes the city will be zero-carbon and accommodate 9 million people. Facilities are planned to be located within a five-minute walk from where people live to ensure “people’s health and wellbeing” are prioritized, according to details from Neom’s site.
The Line forms just one part of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s grand vision to diversify the oil-rich state’s economy as the world seeks to shift away from fossil fuel consumption in an effort to meet net-zero emission commitments.
Plans for the Neom development were unveiled in 2017 but progress has been slow. The Crown Prince told Bloomberg in 2018 that the city would be completed in 2025.
Other parts of the vision include building a tourist destination on Saudi Arabia’s West coast, as well as embarking on a global investment spree to increase the kingdom’s stakes in everything from sports to tech companies.
Representatives for Neom did not immediately respond to Insider’s request for comment made outside of normal working hours.
