The chief government of Neom, Saudi Arabia’s $500bn futuristic improvement within the desert, has been abruptly changed after six years in command of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s flagship mission.
The corporate mentioned on Tuesday that Nadhmi al-Nasr, a veteran former official of state-controlled oil large Saudi Aramco, had left his position.
It gave no cause for his departure, which comes because the Public Funding Fund, which controls Neom, comes underneath strain to ship on a sequence of mega-projects throughout the dominion.
Nasr’s tenure was usually marked by controversy as he oversaw the extremely bold improvement that has drawn scepticism inside and out of doors the dominion.
Aiman Al-Mudaifer, head of the native actual property division on the PIF, the dominion’s sovereign wealth fund, will step in as performing chief government, Neom mentioned. The corporate is a PIF subsidiary.
“As Neom enters a brand new part of supply, this new management will guarantee operational continuity, agility and effectivity to match the general imaginative and prescient and aims of the mission,” the corporate mentioned.
Neom is the centrepiece of an enormous financial transformation programme that Prince Mohammed launched in 2016 to assist diversify the financial system and wean the dominion off its dependence on oil revenues. It’s situated within the desert close to the Purple Coastline and near Jordan and Egypt.
Prince Mohammed first unveiled the thought for Neom in 2017 with the promise of a brand new idea of city residing based mostly absolutely on renewable power and the place robots would outnumber people.
Completely different components of the initiatives had been introduced within the intervening years, together with a linear metropolis referred to as The Line, an industrial port and a ski resort referred to as Trojena that’s set to host the Asian Winter Video games in 2029.
Neom is considered one of a number of big initiatives developed as a part of the dominion’s financial diversification plan. Vacationer resorts within the Purple Sea and Neom’s Sindalah island have lately opened, whereas different schemes stay underneath development.
Typically described because the phrase’s largest development mission, Neom has struggled to satisfy bold expectations and seen a number of management modifications lately.
Klaus Kleinfeld, former CEO of Siemens and Alcoa, was the primary head of Neom however was quickly changed by Nasr, who had a repute for fast supply of main infrastructure initiatives whereas at power group Saudi Aramco, however confronted criticism for his hard-charging managerial fashion.
The corporate has seen the departure of a number of western executives. Wayne Borg, head of Neom’s media unit, was changed in September.
Extra reporting by Andrew England in London
