If you’re looking for emerging markets in which to launch a startup, perhaps none is as ripe as the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Since the KSA joined the World Trade Organization in 2005 and modernized its trade policy to reflect global practice, foreign investment in the country has exploded.

Saudi Arabia have created NEOM, a designated “investment zone” has that attracted over $500 billion in funding. It’s focused on attracting investment in areas including:

• • Energy and water
  • Mobility and biotechnology
  • Food production
  • Technological and digital ­sciences
  • Advanced manufacturing
  • Media and entertainment

NEOM is part of a long-term strategy to boost international capital investment. Billed as “separate from the kingdom’s existing governmental framework”, it’s a deliberate attempt to remove capital investment from the Saudi public sector.

Read the full story at startup.info