Session (5): Modern Economic Cities

Amid the challenges posed by the Covid-19 pandemic, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has begun accelerating the steps of economic transformation to attract foreign investments, in order to support recovery processes in the post-pandemic era. It is launching numerous special economic zones that will lead the Kingdom’s economy to a better reality. This comes within the context of Saudi Arabia’s focus on achieving added value from the economic zones to obtain a large share of foreign investments coming to the Middle East. The economic cities constitute an exceptional investment opportunity for both national and international investors. Naturally, these economic cities, led by “NEOM”, will create massive investment opportunities in the field of specialised products such as iron, steel and various other metals. How will these economic cities affect investment stimulation, the growth of demand for regular iron and steel products, and the creation of new demand for specialised iron, steel and other metal products? What is the plan to deal with all these opportunities, and what will their impact be on economic diversification and industrial development in Saudi Arabia? The session will bring together government officials at the ministerial level and executives of economic cities and major strategic companies in the Kingdom to discuss the economic cities landscape and their role in stimulating demand and motivating and diversifying the economy in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Key Themes:

The announced economic cities and the estimated investments. Are there other new economic cities expected?
What has been accomplished on the ground, and what is expected to be done in the coming period?
Foreign investments in economic cities are a vital goal. How far have they gone and what is the plan to achieve the targeted levels?
The impact of economic cities on the diversification of the economy and the growth of demand for iron, steel and other metal products
The specialised steel and metal products that the industrial cities will require, what are they, and what is the plan to stimulate investment to produce them locally?
What progress has been made on Saudi Arabia’s automotive cluster?
What is the outlook for renewable energy capacity expansion in Saudi Arabia and what steel products will this require?