Bad news for Saudi Prince Mohammed bin Salman's dream project, sources say 1000..., it's 20 percent...
Semaphore has reported that Neom is considering layoffs as part of a comprehensive change. Under this, more than 1,000 employees may leave Neom's site on the northwestern Red Sea coast and transfer to Riyadh. The report also said that these plans have not been finalized yet. There may be further changes in them.
This report by Semaphore is the latest in a series of articles. This shows that the Saudi Arabian government is curbing its ambitions in the case of Neom. Neom aims to turn Saudi Arabia's Red Sea coast into a 170-km-long city called The Line and an industrial park. What does Neom signify?
Neom is made up of a mixture of the Greek word Neos (new) and the Arabic word Mustaqbal (future), here, Neom means 'new future'. It is part of Mohammed bin Salman's Project 2030 (Saudi Vision 2030/ Vision 2030). The city of Neom will be spread over 2,63,000 hectares. Through this, Mohammed bin Salman aims to reduce the dependence of the Saudi economy on oil. Why is the project under scrutiny?
Before Semaphore, Bloomberg has recently reported in one of its reports that Saudi Arabia has asked several consulting firms to review the feasibility of 'The Line'. The Financial Times claimed earlier this year that Saudi Arabia has launched a comprehensive review of Neom because of the many questions surrounding it.
The viability of Neom has long been a subject of debate. There are doubts, especially among investors who feel Saudi Arabia is unlikely to attract people to live in this futuristic remote city. Neom is currently being funded by Saudi Arabia's $1 trillion Public Investment Fund (PIF). However, the project has faced setbacks due to limited interest from foreign investors.
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