The $500 billion Saudi megacity

Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, the Egyptian president, welcomed Saudi crown prince Mohammad Bin Salman to Egypt yesterday.

In order to cement the ties between the two countries, Egypt has set aside more than 1,000 square kilometres of land in south Sinai for a planned $500 billion city, resort and business development with Saudi Arabia.




The project is part of Riyadh’s plans to reduce its dependency on oil.  It will involve the construction of a new urban area in Egypt focused on business and tourism, which will have its own tax and labour laws.

Although a large chunk of the project, tagged Neom, will be on Saudi’s shoreline, the plan is that it will be connected to Sinai via a six-mile bridge spanning the straits that separate the two countries, with further development on the Egyptian side.

To bolster the Neom project the kingdom will work with Egypt and Jordan to attract European cruise companies during the winter season.

Details of the Neom scheme will no doubt shore up President Sisi’s popularity just weeks ahead of presidential elections, which he is widely expected to win.