ZCZC
BCN-11
SAUDI-ECONOMY-INVESTMENT
Saudi Arabia plans to build ‘Riviera of the Middle East’
RIYADH, Sept 27, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund
(PIF) announced plans Wednesday for a luxury tourism destination on its
northwestern coast, the latest in a series of mega projects as the oil-
reliant kingdom seeks to diversify.
The project called “Amaala” would be “a natural extension of the
Mediterranean Sea, and dubbed the Riviera of the Middle East”, the country’s
top sovereign wealth fund said in a statement released by the information
ministry.
The development will feature hotels, private villas, an arts academy and a
yacht club, PIF added.
It did not reveal any timeframe or the size of the investment, saying only
that the “initial funding for the project will be provided by PIF”.
Saudi Arabia has dazzled investors with plans for a series of “giga
projects”, funded in part by its sovereign wealth fund, but sceptics question
their viability.
The kingdom has already unveiled blueprints to build NEOM, a mega project
billed as a regional Silicon Valley, in addition to the Red Sea project, a
reef-fringed resort destination — both worth hundreds of billions of
dollars.
“Amaala will sit alongside NEOM and the Red Sea project as part of the
giga-projects investment portfolio, helping to… (support) economic
diversification,” PIF said.
Such projects are the brainchild of Prince Mohammed, architect of a
sweeping reform programme dubbed “Vision 2030”.
The reforms stem partly from a motivation to boost domestic spending and
attract foreign investment as the kingdom reels from an economic slowdown.
Kickstarting tourism is one of the centrepieces of Vision 2030.
On Tuesday, Saudi Arabia said it will begin issuing visas to visitors to
attend sporting and cultural events from December, a first for the kingdom as
it seeks to lure international tourists.
BSS/AFP/HR/0930