Saudi Arabia’s ‘new-cities’ plan aims to broaden its economy beyond just oil

After relying on oil to fuel its economy for more than half a century, Saudi Arabia is turning to its other abundant natural resource to take it beyond the oil age – the desert.

The kingdom is converting thousands of square kilometers (sq km) of sand into new cities as it seeks to diversify away from crude, create jobs and boost investment.

In the past month alone, the world’s biggest oil exporter has announced two major developments: one covering an area bigger than Belgium and another that will include an airport and shipping port.

That’s on top of plans to build a series of so-called economic cities – special zones in logistics, tourism, industry and finance, an entertainment city and a $10 billion financial district.

“The overall progress with the economic cities has been very slow, even before the collapse of the oil price,” said Monica Malik, chief economist at Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank PJSC.

“Since then, the pace of development has moderated even further with a number of projects being placed on hold.”