Saudi territory with Israeli
The Saudi embassy’s account in Washington published about “reports that the Council of Ministers in Saudi Arabia had agreed to assign a cyber-security company to co- manage the NEOM project.
Despite the embassy's denial of this news, international media revealed that the company in question is an Israeli company, adding that the ambassador of Saudi Arabia had met the Jewish businessman “Ariel Margalit” who suggested several economic proposals on the possibility of Israeli companies investing in Neom.
The reports also indicated that the Israeli businessman informed the Saudi ambassador to Egypt that he and a group of Israeli businessmen residing in Egypt were ready to invest in NEOM projects. He also added that if these economic proposals were approved -including hotels, farms and advanced laboratories and nanotechnology companies- the lands needed by the companies must be given to the parent company.
Bin Salman hopes that his city, of 26,500 along 460 kilometers on the coast of the Red Sea, will make Saudi Arabia an alternative for the world to Silicon Valley in the field of technology, Hollywood in the field of entertainment, and the French Riviera in the field of tourism and vacations.
The project covers nine investment sectors, including the future of energy and water, mobility, biotechnology, food, technical and digital sciences, advanced industrialization, media production, and entertainment and an advanced social life.
These hopes have been ruled out by specialized economists, given that the city is based on a land occupied by inhabitants bin Salman seeks to forcibly displace with foreign residents, which created a huge crisis inside Saudi Arabia with the sons of Al-Huwaitat Tribe, after the Saudi forces killed one of them and arrested dozens to force them to leave their land and homes.
The second reason is current economic crisis in Saudi Arabia due to the war on Yemen, the crises of the Corona virus and halting Hajj and Umrah trips to the country.
According to a report by the Wall Street Journal, the NEOM project, which is the largest project in Vision 2030, faces many obstacles that would stop its completion; most notably
the forced displacement of more than 20 thousand Saudi citizens, in addition to the economic crisis. The newspaper stated that building Neom costs Saudi Arabia money that it no longer possesses, which resulted in a deficit in its budget. The report also revealed that the first phase of NEOM would be established by borrowing loans.
The report also indicated that the entire project is directed by foreign advisors, as Saudi Arabia lacks global capabilities and people of experience in the economic fields and sectors that the Saudi Crown Prince wants in his city, which doubles the budget. It also lacks the safety factor, as there isn’t enough planning and engineering experience.
The newspaper had seen the project before the Saudi crown prince entrusted it to foreign consulting companies, thus writing about the city in its report that it is “fictional”, as it will be built on nothing but sand and sun.
The current displacement of the lands’ residents and the completion of the first phase scheduled to take place by 2025 is simply a fantasy, added the report.
On the other hand, foreign advisors called on bin Salman to adhere to international standards in dealing with citizens, as his actions would dismantle the Saudi society. They called him to think deeply and seek help from residents of the project, after their training and rehabilitation.
more: Another PR firm joins struggling Neom project
