A global roadshow to promote investment opportunities in a planned $500 billion (£376 billion) megacity in Saudi Arabia called Neom has kicked off with a major conference in London.
The inaugural Discover Neom event was held at Spencer House in St James’s Place and attended by about 250 guests, including City grandee Baroness Morrissey, former culture minister Lord Vaizey, and TV adventurer Bear Grylls.
They heard from Neom executives and British business leaders about the potential opportunities for UK investors, contractors and other partners.
Neom is the flagship project in the ambitious Vision 2030 plan led by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman to transform the economy of the oil and gas rich kingdom.
The vast sustainable development, described as the world’s first “cognitive and smart city”, would cover 10,000 square miles of Tabuk province in north-west Saudi Arabia.
It includes a 105-mile long linear city known as The Line that will preserve 95 per cent of the nature in the area and is planned to have one million residents.