Close-by Resource
Twelve executives, including the CEO of Saudi Arabia’s Neom, visited Seoul on the occasion of the Neom City exhibition, the first of its kind in Asia.
Holding a media conference on July 25, the day before the opening of the Neom exhibition at Dongdaemun Design Plaza (DDP) in Seoul, the executives emphasized that, actually, the Neom City project is coming true.
Neom is an administrative region designated by Saudi Arabia in the northwest of the country with an area of 26,500 square kilometers, 44 times the size of Seoul. The Middle Eastern kingdom is promoting four major projects in Neom -- the linear new city The Line; Oktagon, an octagonal high-tech industrial complex floating on the sea; Trojena, a mountainous tourism destination; and Sindalah, a luxury resort with a golf course and a yacht marina.
Launched five years ago under the leadership of Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman, the Neom City project began construction work in earnest a year and a half ago after four years of planning.
“Speaking about the current state, there are communities and schools in Neom. Construction has begun all over Neom,” said Nadmi Al Nasr, CEO of Neom. He emphasized his commitment to successfully completing the project amid criticisms over its lack of feasibility. “Neom is a story, and it’s a story that will continue to be told for 25 years,” Nadmi emphasized.
The project cost will be astronomical. The estimated total cost alone is US$500 billion (approximately 640 trillion won).
Many companies around the world, including Korean companies, are scrambling to take big orders for Neom City. “When Neom Phase 1 is completed in 2030 it will send a message to the world that this is a practical and viable project,” Nadmi said. “We believe this will enable us to have a successful second round of funding.” “The Neom City project will give opportunities to many Korean companies in the investment, funding and partnership formation phases,” he emphasized several times.
Currently, Samsung C&T and Hyundai E&C are working on an infrastructure tunnel for The Line, while Hanmi Global is involved in program management. Samsung C&T, Hyundai E&C and other Korean companies are seeking to win new tenders for the project.
“I think we will be able to announce Korean companies’ signing additional Neom-related contracts in the second half of this year,” said Won Hee-ryong, Korean minister of land, infrastructure, and transport, who attended the media conference with Nadmi. “We will open a liaison office in Neom to connect Korean companies and experts with officials there.”
About 250 people from approximately 100 Korean companies attended Neom’s closed-door project introduction event the day before. Heads of sectors such as construction, media, education, healthcare, tourism, and energy from Neom attended and had one-on-one meetings with those from Korean companies.
“Each company presented an average of three projects to Neom, which means that about 300 projects were presented to Neom,” said a MOLIT official.