Neom CEO departs as Saudi Arabia scales back mega-projects | Saudi Arabia

Nadhmi al-Nasr, the longtime chief executive of the $500bn Saudi development project Neom launched by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, has departed, according to a Neom statement issued on Tuesday that did not give a reason for the departure.

Prince Mohammed has poured hundreds of billions of dollars into development projects through the kingdom’s PIF sovereign wealth fund.

The Red Sea mega-project, an urban and industrial development nearly the size of Belgium due to house nearly 9 million people, is central to the prince’s Vision 2030 plan, which aims to diversify the economy away from oil.

But some of the schemes have had to be scaled back due to rising costs, including the Line, a futuristic city between mirrored walls extending 170km (106 miles) into the desert within Neom.

Reuters reported in May that the $925bn PIF was weighing a reorganisation, aiming to sharpen its focus on investments that have a higher chance of success. Saudi Arabia, the world’s top oil exporter, is still heavily reliant on hydrocarbon revenues, and low oil prices and production have dented state coffers.

Aiman al-Mudaifer was named as acting CEO of Neom. He has been the head of the Local Real Estate Division at PIF since 2018 and has a deep understanding of Neom and its projects, Neom’s statement said.

“As Neom enters a new phase of delivery, this new leadership will ensure operational continuity, agility and efficiency to match the overall vision and objectives of the project,” the press release reads.

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In his role at PIF, Mudaifer oversees all local real estate investments and infrastructure projects, and he is a board member of several prominent companies in the kingdom.