When a business delegation met Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman recently, they were surprised to hear a candid admission about Neom, his $500bn mega plan to turn virgin Saudi shoreline into a futuristic business hub. “No one will invest [in the project] for years,” the de facto Saudi ruler said, according to a colleague of those in the meeting. His comments were a recognition that the crisis triggered by the killing of Jamal Khashoggi threatens to undermine his bold plans to modernise the conservative kingdom with the backing of foreign capital and expertise.
Neom — the largest and most ambitious project announced by Prince Mohammed — was always considered high risk, a start-up city founded on cutting-edge technologies from robotics to artificial intelligence. But it is now being pushed on to the backburner as the crisis caused by Khashoggi’s murder jeopardises the kingdom’s ability to attract the financing and high-tech skills needed for it and other developments. Saudi Arabia is going back to what has been tried and tested. They are going back to meat and potatoes Steffen Hertog, London School of Economics “Neom is in doubt for sure,” said one private sector consultant.
“Certainly, our [government] clients are not outward facing at the moment.” Since the Saudi journalist’s killing, advisers to Neom including the architect Norman Foster have distanced themselves from the project, underscoring the political and reputational risk attached to being associated with the crown prince.