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Phase 2 of the construction of Oxagon, a planned floating industrial city and port being developed as part of Saudi Arabia’s NEOM, will start this year.
Belgium-based DEME Group said it is gearing up for the second phase of Oxagon, which will house advanced and clean industries in NEOM.
“We have made further progress on the dry earth moving activities in Saudi Arabia for the Oxagon phase 2 in preparation for cutter suction dredging work to start later this year,” the company said in the financial statement for the first half of 2025.
Oxagon, as the name suggests, has an octagonal shape and, partly extending offshore, south of NEOM’s The Line, and is strategically located on the Red Sea coast near global shipping lanes, through which around 13 per cent of global trade passes.
Oxagon is said to be “the world’s largest floating structure,” and the port, once completed, will serve as the industrial and logistics backbone of NEOM.
The purpose-built city will embed robotics, automation, artificial intelligence and internet of things. Oxagon will be powered by renewable energy, will adopt these NEOM practices so that manufacturers can operate more efficiently, sustainably and profitably.
“Oxagon will be the catalyst for economic growth and diversity in Neom and the kingdom, further meeting our ambitions under Vision 2030,” Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman said in 2021.
Other notable projects in NEOM, such as the futuristic linear city The Line, ski village Trojena, and ski village Sindalah, are also under various stages of construction.
Though the $500 billion NEOM was originally scheduled to be ready by 2030, in line with MBS’s Vision 2030, the mega-project has been marred by construction delays and cost overruns.
From the initial estimate of $500 billion, NEOMs cost has now risen to $8.8 trillion according to an internal audit, a cost exceeding 25 times Saudi Arabia’s annual budget, forcing many to question its financial viabilty.
Saudi authorities have also been forced to scale back on some of NEOM’s key projections, including The Line, which has been reduced to a 2.4-kilometre and housing fewer than 300,000 residents by 2030, against the original 170-km length and 1.5 million inhabitants.
Trojena ski resort, which is scheduled to host the 2029 Asian Winter Games, is also way behind its construction schedule, forcing the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) to approach the Korean Sport and Olympic Committee (KSOC) for an alternative venue.
Saudi Arabia has so far not officially acknowledged the delays, but a Neom spokesperson said they are working in close coordination with the Olympic Council of Asia and the Saudi Olympic & Paralympic Committee.
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