World / Middle East RED SEA PROJECT Saudi Arabia to pump petrodollars into tourism The Red Sea Project will be a standalone company lead by a former director of London’s Canary Wharf business zone BL PREMIUM

Riyadh — Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea Project, a vast tourist development aimed at opening the economy, has been registered as a standalone company and will be headed by a former director of London’s Canary Wharf business zone, the country’s sovereign wealth fund said on Sunday. The Saudi government revealed plans to develop resorts on about 50 islands off the kingdom’s Red Sea coast and said the Public Investment Fund (PIF), the country’s sovereign wealth fund, would make initial investments and seek partnerships with international investors and hoteliers in July. The Red Sea Project, part of an ambitious strategy to open the economy and ease social restrictions, will be built between the cities of Amlaj and al-Wajh. It will offer a nature reserve, heritage sites and diving in coral reefs. It will break ground in the third quarter of 2019 and complete its first phase in late 2022. PIF has two other major initiatives: NEOM — a $500bn business and industrial zone extending into Egypt and J...