Electronic music, strobe lights, glittered faces and hundreds of thousands of people in mixed-gender gyrations are all part of a new kind of ritual in Saudi Arabia that didn’t exist just before Saudi Crown Prince Mohamed bin Salman's (MBS) took office.
Saudi Entertainment Ventures Company (SEVEN), which is wholly owned by the Public Investments Fund (PIF) headed by MBS, has announced the start of construction work for its new destination in Madinah.
The entertainment destination is located next to King Fahad Central Park and will cover more than 100,000 square meters, with a built-up area of over 84,000 square meters.
A joint venture between Al-Bawani and UrbaCon Trading & Contracting Co. will carry out the building work.
Seven is investing more than SR50 billion in the development of 21 entertainment destinations in 14 cities across the Kingdom, including Riyadh, Abha, Makkah, Jeddah, Taif, Yanbu and Buraidah.
This came while Saudi Arabia already reported a deficit of 2.91 billion riyals in the first quarter of the year.
The International Monetary Fund forecasts the world’s top crude exporter will run a budget deficit of 1.1% of gross domestic product this year, a view that’s at odds with the government’s expectation for a second straight surplus it last estimated at 16 billion riyals.
The Washington-based lender hiked its estimate of the oil price Saudi Arabia needs to balance its budget this year to over US$80 a barrel. The kingdom doesn’t reveal an oil price assumption in its budget.
Saudi Arabia's total exports, including both oil and non-oil exports, fell 25% year-on-year (YoY) in March 2023 to 106 billion royals ($28 billion) from SAR 142 billion.
Oil exports fell by SAR 30 billion, or 26%, in the same period to SAR 83.1 billion from SAR 113.1 billion in March 2022.
MBS's serious human violations and grasp of power since emerging as the main power broker in Saudi Arabia has repeatedly made headlines.
Experts have warned that the sharp decline in foreign investments is a real disaster that proves that foreign investors do not trust the projects launched by MBS, including NEOM and The Line.
