Saudi Arabia is planning to award a total of 15 billion Saudi riyals ($4bn) worth of contracts for various infrastructure and utilities projects within its Red Sea mega-development as its seeks to grow its nascent tourism sector.
The Red Sea Development Company (TRSDC) —the project developer backed by the kingdom's sovereign wealth fund, the Public Investment Fund—will award contracts for an airport terminal, airport operator, and a public-private partnership (PPP) utilities package, according to a statement on its website. The utilities project will secure 100 per cent renewable energy generation, water desalination, waste treatment and district cooling.
"All of our world-class partners are carefully selected and are truly aligned to our sustainability and business principles," John Pagano, TRSDC's chief executive, said. "Taking just a sustainable approach isn’t enough. We want to enhance the destination for generations to come."
Saudi Arabia plans to develop more than 50 islands off its Red Sea coast, offering a tourism and nature reserve spread over 28,000 square kilometres. The leisure development is part of the kingdom's efforts to develop its nascent tourism sector, a key pillar in Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s plan to diversify the economy and reduce its reliance on oil.
"TRSDC is a contributing factor to the growth of the Saudi Arabian economy and is playing a pivotal role in its Vision 2030 plan," Mr Pagano said.
The TRSDC has already awarded more than 500 contracts totaling about $2bn to international and local firms to date.
Work is on track to welcome the first guests by the end of 2022, when the international airport and the first four hotels will open. The remaining 12 hotels scheduled for completion during the first phase of the project will open in 2023, delivering a total of 3,000 rooms across five islands and two inland resorts.
The Red Sea Development Company is planning to close a $3.7bn loan from five local banks by the end of 2020 as it ramps up construction on the project, Mr Pagano told Bloomberg on Sunday.
When the entire development is completed in 2030, TRSDC will target 1 million visitors a year, split evenly between domestic and international, Mr Pagano said.
Work on the destination’s transport links is currently "well underway", including developing 80km of roads, highways and junctions and the new international airport, according to the TRSDC's website.
In July this year, the company signed its largest contract to date for airside infrastructure works for the international airport, set to open in 2022. The contract was awarded as a joint venture to Saudi contractors Nesma & Partners Contracting Co. and Almabani General Contractors.
The tourism sector currently accounts for 3.4 per cent of Saudi Arabia's economic output which indicates it “is under-represented in the kingdom", Mr Pagano said during the Future Hospitality Summit held online from Riyadh last week. Saudi Arabia wants the sector to account for more than 10 per cent of its gross domestic product by 2030.
The entire Red Sea destination is on track to be completed by 2030 when 22 islands and six inland sites will be developed, Mr Pagano said. There will be a total of 48 hotels but the developer has pledged to limit guest numbers in order to avoid over-tourism and a strain on the environment.
Looking to protect critical habitats in the Red Sea, 5,700 square kilometres of the surrounding waters have been preserved, the largest conservation zone at sea in the Middle East, Mr Pagano said at the online summit.
The entire reserve will be powered by renewable energy and aim to sequester carbon both through nature-based methods and technology.
Other projects that are under construction in the kingdom include the $500bn futuristic Neom mega economic zone, which borders the Red Sea project and extends into Egypt and Jordan, and the Qiddiya entertainment project near Riyadh.
New Zealand 57-0 South Africa
Tries: Rieko Ioane, Nehe Milner-Skudder (2), Scott Barrett, Brodie Retallick, Ofa Tu'ungfasi, Lima Sopoaga, Codie Taylor. Conversions: Beauden Barrett (7). Penalty: Beauden Barrett
The specs: 2018 Renault Koleos
Price, base: From Dh77,900
Engine: 2.5L, in-line four-cylinder
Transmission: Continuously variable transmission
Power: 170hp @ 6,000rpm
Torque: 233Nm @ 4,000rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 8.3L / 100km
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Other acts on the Jazz Garden bill
Sharrie Williams
The American singer is hugely respected in blues circles due to her passionate vocals and songwriting. Born and raised in Michigan, Williams began recording and touring as a teenage gospel singer. Her career took off with the blues band The Wiseguys. Such was the acclaim of their live shows that they toured throughout Europe and in Africa. As a solo artist, Williams has also collaborated with the likes of the late Dizzy Gillespie, Van Morrison and Mavis Staples.
Lin Rountree
An accomplished smooth jazz artist who blends his chilled approach with R‘n’B. Trained at the Duke Ellington School of the Arts in Washington, DC, Rountree formed his own band in 2004. He has also recorded with the likes of Kem, Dwele and Conya Doss. He comes to Dubai on the back of his new single Pass The Groove, from his forthcoming 2018 album Stronger Still, which may follow his five previous solo albums in cracking the top 10 of the US jazz charts.
Anita Williams
Dubai-based singer Anita Williams will open the night with a set of covers and swing, jazz and blues standards that made her an in-demand singer across the emirate. The Irish singer has been performing in Dubai since 2008 at venues such as MusicHall and Voda Bar. Her Jazz Garden appearance is career highlight as she will use the event to perform the original song Big Blue Eyes, the single from her debut solo album, due for release soon.
Timeline
2012-2015
The company offers payments/bribes to win key contracts in the Middle East
May 2017
The UK SFO officially opens investigation into Petrofac’s use of agents, corruption, and potential bribery to secure contracts
September 2021
Petrofac pleads guilty to seven counts of failing to prevent bribery under the UK Bribery Act
October 2021
Court fines Petrofac £77 million for bribery. Former executive receives a two-year suspended sentence
December 2024
Petrofac enters into comprehensive restructuring to strengthen the financial position of the group
May 2025
The High Court of England and Wales approves the company’s restructuring plan
July 2025
The Court of Appeal issues a judgment challenging parts of the restructuring plan
August 2025
Petrofac issues a business update to execute the restructuring and confirms it will appeal the Court of Appeal decision
October 2025
Petrofac loses a major TenneT offshore wind contract worth €13 billion. Holding company files for administration in the UK. Petrofac delisted from the London Stock Exchange
November 2025
180 Petrofac employees laid off in the UAE
Tax authority targets shisha levy evasion
The Federal Tax Authority will track shisha imports with electronic markers to protect customers and ensure levies have been paid.
Khalid Ali Al Bustani, director of the tax authority, on Sunday said the move is to "prevent tax evasion and support the authority’s tax collection efforts".
The scheme’s first phase, which came into effect on 1st January, 2019, covers all types of imported and domestically produced and distributed cigarettes. As of May 1, importing any type of cigarettes without the digital marks will be prohibited.
He said the latest phase will see imported and locally produced shisha tobacco tracked by the final quarter of this year.
"The FTA also maintains ongoing communication with concerned companies, to help them adapt their systems to meet our requirements and coordinate between all parties involved," he said.
As with cigarettes, shisha was hit with a 100 per cent tax in October 2017, though manufacturers and cafes absorbed some of the costs to prevent prices doubling.
The years Ramadan fell in May
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Start-up hopes to end Japan's love affair with cash
Across most of Asia, people pay for taxi rides, restaurant meals and merchandise with smartphone-readable barcodes — except in Japan, where cash still rules. Now, as the country’s biggest web companies race to dominate the payments market, one Tokyo-based startup says it has a fighting chance to win with its QR app.
Origami had a head start when it introduced a QR-code payment service in late 2015 and has since signed up fast-food chain KFC, Tokyo’s largest cab company Nihon Kotsu and convenience store operator Lawson. The company raised $66 million in September to expand nationwide and plans to more than double its staff of about 100 employees, says founder Yoshiki Yasui.
Origami is betting that stores, which until now relied on direct mail and email newsletters, will pay for the ability to reach customers on their smartphones. For example, a hair salon using Origami’s payment app would be able to send a message to past customers with a coupon for their next haircut.
Quick Response codes, the dotted squares that can be read by smartphone cameras, were invented in the 1990s by a unit of Toyota Motor to track automotive parts. But when the Japanese pioneered digital payments almost two decades ago with contactless cards for train fares, they chose the so-called near-field communications technology. The high cost of rolling out NFC payments, convenient ATMs and a culture where lost wallets are often returned have all been cited as reasons why cash remains king in the archipelago. In China, however, QR codes dominate.
Cashless payments, which includes credit cards, accounted for just 20 per cent of total consumer spending in Japan during 2016, compared with 60 per cent in China and 89 per cent in South Korea, according to a report by the Bank of Japan.
Specs
Price, base: Dhs850,000
Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
Transmission: Seven-speed automatic
Power: 591bhp @ 7,500rpm
Torque: 760Nm @ 3,000rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 11.3L / 100km
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