Mirror Line: Saudi Arabia's Neom to build the world's longest skyscraper

Saudi Arabia's $500 billion Neom project is set to be home to a record-setting 120km-long skyscraper called the Mirror Line.

According to documents seen by The Wall Street Journal, the world’s largest structure will comprise two buildings up to 490 metres tall, running parallel for 120 kilometres.

The structures will be connected by walkways and a high-speed train will run beneath.

Following on the heels of the WSJ report, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on Monday said The Line, in the kingdom’s $500 billion giga-project Neom, will “embody how urban communities will be in the future”.

Prince Mohammed announced the designs of The Line, which “puts human first, providing an unprecedented urban” living experience while preserving nature.

“The idea of layering city functions vertically, giving people possibility of moving seamlessly in three dimensions to access them, is a concept referred to as Zero Gravity Urbanism,” Prince Mohammed said.

The Mirror Line is designed by the US-based Morphosis Architects and the project involves at least nine other design and engineering consultancies.

They proposed building it in stages by creating 790-metre-long structures of varying heights up to 490 metres that will connect in a line.

The project builds on Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's announcement in January of plans to create a linear community that is expected to cost up to a trillion dollars and house about five million people when complete.

Prince Mohammed said the entire 170-kilometre coastal strip in the north-west of Saudi Arabia would be free of cars and streets, with zero carbon emissions.

The Mirror Line is one of a series of projects that make up Neom.

Four other developments, Neom Bay, Aqaba Region, Neom Mountain and Neom Industrial City, are intended to surround it.

There is also the planned project named the Vault which is a resort built into a mountainside.

Unveiled by Prince Mohammed in 2017, Neom is Saudi Arabia's flagship business and tourism development on the Red Sea coast and a central project in the 2030 Vision outlining the kingdom's plans to diversify the economy.

The development will include smart towns and cities, ports and enterprise areas, research centres, sports and entertainment venues and tourist centres.

It will be spread across 26,500 square kilometres and will comprise several zones, including industrial and logistics areas, all planned for completion in 2025.

People are expected to begin arriving in 2024, Neom's head of tourism said. The area is predicted to be home to millions by 2030.

The story of Edge

Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, established Edge in 2019.

It brought together 25 state-owned and independent companies specialising in weapons systems, cyber protection and electronic warfare.

Edge has an annual revenue of $5 billion and employs more than 12,000 people.

Some of the companies include Nimr, a maker of armoured vehicles, Caracal, which manufactures guns and ammunitions company, Lahab

On Women's Day

Dr Nawal Al-Hosany: Why more women should be on the frontlines of climate action

Samar Elmnhrawy: How companies in the Middle East can catch up on gender equality

The National Editorial: Is there much to celebrate on International Women's Day 2021?

Justin Thomas: Challenge the notion that 'men are from Mars, women are from Venus'

The alternatives

• Founded in 2014, Telr is a payment aggregator and gateway with an office in Silicon Oasis. It’s e-commerce entry plan costs Dh349 monthly (plus VAT). QR codes direct customers to an online payment page and merchants can generate payments through messaging apps.

• Business Bay’s Pallapay claims 40,000-plus active merchants who can invoice customers and receive payment by card. Fees range from 1.99 per cent plus Dh1 per transaction depending on payment method and location, such as online or via UAE mobile.

• Tap started in May 2013 in Kuwait, allowing Middle East businesses to bill, accept, receive and make payments online “easier, faster and smoother” via goSell and goCollect. It supports more than 10,000 merchants. Monthly fees range from US$65-100, plus card charges of 2.75-3.75 per cent and Dh1.2 per sale.

• 2checkout’s “all-in-one payment gateway and merchant account” accepts payments in 200-plus markets for 2.4-3.9 per cent, plus a Dh1.2-Dh1.8 currency conversion charge. The US provider processes online shop and mobile transactions and has 17,000-plus active digital commerce users.

• PayPal is probably the best-known online goods payment method - usually used for eBay purchases - but can be used to receive funds, providing everyone’s signed up. Costs from 2.9 per cent plus Dh1.2 per transaction.

While you're here

National Editorial: Joe Biden has given away valuable leverage in Yemen

Hussein Ibish: Biden wants America to re-engage with the world. It's a tough sell

National Editorial: The Taliban will not find peace in Tehran

Con Coughlin: Biden takes a tougher, but incomplete line on Iran

While you're here

Mustafa Alrawi: To get the 'jab' done, there must be patience and empathy

Damien McElroy: Anti-science attitudes in America are proving lethal

Editorial: What makes the UAE such a good place to test vaccines?

Editorial: The fight against Covid-19 should be guided by science

Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.

Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.

“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.

“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.

Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.

From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.

Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.

BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.

Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.

Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.

“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.

“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.

“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”

The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”

Dhadak 2

Director: Shazia Iqbal

Starring: Siddhant Chaturvedi, Triptii Dimri

Rating: 1/5

While you're here

Hend Al Otaiba: A year ago, Covid-19 forced us apart – now, vaccines can bring us back together

National Editorial: Iata travel pass – 'digital passports' will get the world moving again

Lucy Sherriff: Covid vaccine passports: safeguard or ethical nightmare?

The Voice of Hind Rajab

Starring: Saja Kilani, Clara Khoury, Motaz Malhees

Director: Kaouther Ben Hania

Rating: 4/5

Nayanthara: Beyond The Fairy Tale

Starring: Nayanthara, Vignesh Shivan, Radhika Sarathkumar, Nagarjuna Akkineni

Director: Amith Krishnan

Rating: 3.5/5

Mirror Line: Saudi Arabia's Neom to build the world's longest skyscraper

Crown Prince announced the designs of The Line

The story of Edge

On Women's Day

The alternatives

While you're here

While you're here

Dhadak 2

While you're here

The Voice of Hind Rajab

Nayanthara: Beyond The Fairy Tale