Saudi’s NEOM Bay, an urban project, will be completed in 2020.

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz, the chairman of the NEOM board, approved the strategic concept of the masterplan for NEOM Bay, the Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported.

Construction of NEOM Bay, the first urban area within the $500bn mega NEOM development in Saudi Arabia will begin in the first quarter of this year, officials announced on Wednesday.

A number of key facilities will be completed by the end of this year including the current airport at Sharma, which will be upgraded to become a commercial airport operating regular flights between Riyadh and NEOM. The work on the first phase of NEOM Bay will be completed in 2020, the report added. NEOM was first unveiled by Prince Mohamed at a Public Investment Fund (PIF) conference in October 2017.

Spanning 26,500sqm, it will act as a technology hub, job creator and centre for foreign investment and is key component of the kingdom’s Vision 2030 agenda to diversify away from oil.

It is also designed to be an eco-friendly project, with energy set to be generated from renewable sources. “The unique environmental characteristics of the region will be preserved, and the unique ecosystem will be protected and improved,” the report said.