Saudi Arabia has shelved a $200 billion plan with SoftBank Group Corp to build the world’s biggest solar-power-generation project, according to a report by the Wall Street Journal.

The project, which was announced by SoftBank in March, was expected to generate up to 200 gigawatts by 2030, more than the kingdom’s current capacity from all energy sources.

The WSJ report, which cited people familiar with the matter, noted that “no one is actively working on the project,” and instead, the Saudi kingdom is working up a “broader, more practical strategy to boost renewable energy,” to be announced in late October.

India’s Ambassador to Saudi Arabia Ahmad Javed has called on Indian engineers and other technical professionals “to grab the opportunities coming up within the framework of the Saudi Vision 2030.” 

Speaking as chairman and chief guest at a high-profile meeting of engineers in Riyadh recently, he said he was pleased to learn that 12 percent of all engineers in Saudi Arabia are Indian.  More than 300 engineers attended the event, which was organized by the Indian Engineers Forum (IEF) in Riyadh, a leading nonprofit professional organization that for 20 years has been working to share knowledge and forge connections.

An ultra-luxurious destination on Saudi Arabia’s northwestern coast of the Red Sea has been announced by the Kingdom’s Public Investment Fund (PIF).  The “Amaala” resort, already being dubbed the “Riviera of the Middle East”, will be focused upon wellness, healthy living and meditation and is located a few hundred miles down the Red Sea coast from NEOM in 2028.

NEOM was born from the ambition of Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 to see the country develop into a pioneering and thriving model of excellence in various and important areas of life.

The team behind the NEOM mega-city project in Saudi Arabia said recently that they have begun environmental, archaeological and geological surveys to ensure successful and sustainable execution of future constructions.

NEOM was born from the ambition of Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 to see the country develop into a pioneering and thriving model of excellence in various and important areas of life. A press statement released when the project was first announced in October last year, stated that NEOM aims to thrive the transformation of the Kingdom into a leading global hub through the introduction of value chains of industry and technology.

Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF), led by Crown Prince Mohammad Bin Salman, is the GCC’s largest project developer with pre-execution projects worth $534bn (SAR2tn).

PIF is one of the seven Saudi organisations that make up 10 of the GCC’s largest project owners, and its most notable under-development assets include the $500bn (SAR1.9tn) NEOM City, in addition to the mixed-use Rou’a Al Madinah and Rou’a Al Haram, each valued at $10bn (SAR37.5bn).

The team behind the NEOM mega-city project in Saudi Arabia said they have begun environmental, archaeological and geological surveys to ensure successful and sustainable execution of future constructions.

“The NEOM team has begun environmental, archaeological and geological surveys to ensure that the execution of any future construction is well-planned and sustainable,” the team tweeted on Sunday.

NEOM was born from the ambition of Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 to see the country develop into a pioneering and thriving model of excellence in various and important areas of life. According to a press release statement when the project was first announced in October last year, NEOM aims to thrive the transformation of the Kingdom into a leading global hub through the introduction of value chains of industry and technology.

A country’s window of opportunity in which to implement reforms such as NEOM typically comes around only once or twice in a generation. For this reason, Saudis have a profound interest in ensuring they get these reforms right - as does the United States, which can only benefit from a more open, prosperous, and socially tolerant Saudi partner in the Middle East.

Vision 2030 enumerates a very broad range of economic and social reforms, but is silent on the issue of political reform. If anything, Vision 2030 has become a vehicle for consolidating King Salman and his son Mohammed bin Salman’s political position. The latter’s stewardship of Vision 2030 helped burnish his public image and ease his accession to Crown Prince.

NEOM, will see its own airport being built near the kingdom’s Tabuk area.  The airport is reportedly located 10 kilometers from Sharma, 75 kilometers from Daba and will be initially coordinated with Prince Sultan City.  The airport’s code registered with the International Civil Aviation Organization is OENN.  It will boast a runway of 3,757 metres long at 151 degrees on one side and 331 degrees on the other.

Aradhana Khowala has been appointed as NEOM’s managing director of tourism, the  project announced yesterday.  NEOM, a $500 billion megacity, is a key part of the Kingdom’s strategic vision to diversify the economy.  

“We will be working alongside Aradhana to make NEOM an exceptional global tourism destination looking ahead to the future,” said CEO Nadhmi Al-Nasr in a tweet on NEOM's official account. 

Khowala, who was CEO & founder of Aptamind, is considered a world expert in the tourism and hospitality industry, and was awarded the 21st Century Icon Awards in association with CNBC and London School of Economics as an inspirational game changer and tourism leader.