The developers behind two of Saudi Arabia's most ambitious tourism projects have evolved into a more globally focused entity.
The Red Sea Development Company (TRSDC) and Amaala, owned by the kingdom's sovereign wealth fund, the Public Investment Fund, which were developing adjacent mega projects on the country's west coast have been unified into one entity.
The combination of two companies into Red Sea Global was announced at the Future Investment Initiative in Riyadh on Tuesday.
Red Sea Global said it will create 120,000 jobs and contribute 33 billion riyals ($8.8bn) annually to Saudi Arabia’s economy from 2027 — from the Red Sea and Amaala projects alone.
Red Sea Global has more than five additional projects already at the feasibility study stage or entering the masterplan completion phase or at which construction has already started, it said.
Its expanded mandate also includes the establishment of a series of subsidiary businesses to drive an uplift in the Saudi tourism sector and associated industries, it said.
It will also be in charge of more than a dozen projects stretching across the length of the Red Sea coast of Saudi Arabia, with the potential to expand beyond the kingdom in the future.
“The announcement today marks the start of our evolution into a truly global developer that can lead the category towards a new archetype for development,” said John Pagano, chief executive of Red Sea Global.
“We are not only expanding our footprint to help create massive economic opportunities — valued at hundreds of billions worth of riyals — for the people of Saudi Arabia. We also want to set new global standards in development and inspire the industry to do better.”
The Red Sea Project is set in a 28,000 square kilometre area that includes an archipelago of 92 islands, 50 dormant volcanoes, mountain ranges and sand dunes.
Its first phase will open from 2023, with 16 hotels offering 3,000 rooms, an international airport, a marina, an 18-hole championship golf course and retail and entertainment centres.
It is due for completion in 2030, with 8,000 rooms in 50 hotels and 1,000 residences. Red Sea Global said it planned for the project to be carbon-neutral upon opening.
Meanwhile, Amaala — on Saudi Arabia’s north-western coast — will border Neom and the Red Sea Project, and is another key part of the kingdom's tourism drive.
The development will add 2,500 hotel rooms and 700 private residential villas, along with a retail area featuring 200 outlets.
The first phase of the Amaala project will comprise nine hotels, delivering about 1,300 hotel rooms. It is on track for completion by mid-2024.
The overall project is due for completion in 2027, with 3,000 rooms in 25 hotels and 934 residences.
Last week, designs for the “world's first fully immersive experiential marine life centre” at the Triple Bay Marina in Amaala were unveiled.
It will house one of the world's largest man-made reefs, measuring 40 metres long and 10 metres deep, as well as augmented reality experiences and underwater tours of the Red Sea in submersible vehicles.
Amaala will be powered solely by renewable energy and will be carbon neutral upon opening, Red Sea Global said.
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The Dark Blue Winter Overcoat & Other Stories From the North
Edited and Introduced by Sjón and Ted Hodgkinson
Pushkin Press
Ammar 808:
Maghreb United
Sofyann Ben Youssef
Glitterbeat
Last-16
France 4
Griezmann (13' pen), Pavard (57'), Mbappe (64', 68')
Argentina 3
Di Maria (41'), Mercado (48'), Aguero (90 3')
COMPANY%20PROFILE
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ECompany%20name%3C%2Fstrong%3E%3A%20ASI%20(formerly%20DigestAI)%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarted%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%202017%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EFounders%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Quddus%20Pativada%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Dubai%2C%20UAE%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EIndustry%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Artificial%20intelligence%2C%20education%20technology%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EFunding%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20%243%20million-plus%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestors%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20GSV%20Ventures%2C%20Character%2C%20Mark%20Cuban%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Libya's Gold
UN Panel of Experts found regime secretly sold a fifth of the country's gold reserves.
The panel’s 2017 report followed a trail to West Africa where large sums of cash and gold were hidden by Abdullah Al Senussi, Qaddafi’s former intelligence chief, in 2011.
Cases filled with cash that was said to amount to $560m in 100 dollar notes, that was kept by a group of Libyans in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso.
A second stash was said to have been held in Accra, Ghana, inside boxes at the local offices of an international human rights organisation based in France.
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Australia (15-1): Israel Folau; Dane Haylett-Petty, Reece Hodge, Kurtley Beale, Marika Koroibete; Bernard Foley, Will Genia; David Pocock, Michael Hooper (capt), Lukhan Tui; Adam Coleman, Izack Rodda; Sekope Kepu, Tatafu Polota-Nau, Tom Robertson.
Replacements: Tolu Latu, Allan Alaalatoa, Taniela Tupou, Rob Simmons, Pete Samu, Nick Phipps, Matt Toomua, Jack Maddocks.
UAE jiu-jitsu squad
Men: Hamad Nawad and Khalid Al Balushi (56kg), Omar Al Fadhli and Saeed Al Mazroui (62kg), Taleb Al Kirbi and Humaid Al Kaabi (69kg), Mohammed Al Qubaisi and Saud Al Hammadi (70kg), Khalfan Belhol and Mohammad Haitham Radhi (85kg), Faisal Al Ketbi and Zayed Al Kaabi (94kg)
Women: Wadima Al Yafei and Mahra Al Hanaei (49kg), Bashayer Al Matrooshi and Hessa Al Shamsi (62kg)
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Who is Mohammed Al Halbousi?
The new speaker of Iraq’s parliament Mohammed Al Halbousi is the youngest person ever to serve in the role.
The 37-year-old was born in Al Garmah in Anbar and studied civil engineering in Baghdad before going into business. His development company Al Hadeed undertook reconstruction contracts rebuilding parts of Fallujah’s infrastructure.
He entered parliament in 2014 and served as a member of the human rights and finance committees until 2017. In August last year he was appointed governor of Anbar, a role in which he has struggled to secure funding to provide services in the war-damaged province and to secure the withdrawal of Shia militias. He relinquished the post when he was sworn in as a member of parliament on September 3.
He is a member of the Al Hal Sunni-based political party and the Sunni-led Coalition of Iraqi Forces, which is Iraq’s largest Sunni alliance with 37 seats from the May 12 election.
He maintains good relations with former Prime Minister Nouri Al Maliki’s State of Law Coaliton, Hadi Al Amiri’s Badr Organisation and Iranian officials.
'The Coddling of the American Mind: How Good Intentions and Bad Ideas are Setting up a Generation for Failure'
Greg Lukianoff and Jonathan Haidt, Penguin Randomhouse
Sheikh Zayed's poem
When it is unveiled at Abu Dhabi Art, the Standing Tall exhibition will appear as an interplay of poetry and art. The 100 scarves are 100 fragments surrounding five, figurative, female sculptures, and both sculptures and scarves are hand-embroidered by a group of refugee women artisans, who used the Palestinian cross-stitch embroidery art of tatreez. Fragments of Sheikh Zayed’s poem Your Love is Ruling My Heart, written in Arabic as a love poem to his nation, are embroidered onto both the sculptures and the scarves. Here is the English translation.
Your love is ruling over my heart
Your love is ruling over my heart, even a mountain can’t bear all of it
Woe for my heart of such a love, if it befell it and made it its home
You came on me like a gleaming sun, you are the cure for my soul of its sickness
Be lenient on me, oh tender one, and have mercy on who because of you is in ruins
You are like the Ajeed Al-reem [leader of the gazelle herd] for my country, the source of all of its knowledge
You waddle even when you stand still, with feet white like the blooming of the dates of the palm
Oh, who wishes to deprive me of sleep, the night has ended and I still have not seen you
You are the cure for my sickness and my support, you dried my throat up let me go and damp it
Help me, oh children of mine, for in his love my life will pass me by.
