A handout picture provided by the Saudi Royal Palace on April 28, 2018, shows Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz (C-R) and his son, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (R), embracing two children while standing behind the logo for “Qiddiya”, an “entertainment city” spanning 334-square kilometres and that would include high-end theme parks, motor sport facilities and a safari park; during a ground-breaking ceremony on the site about 40 kilometres southwest of the capital Riyadh.
The project is part of a sweeping reform and investment programme dubbed “Vision 2030”, the brainchild of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman; with its first phase, including high-end theme parks, motor sport facilities and a safari area, expected to be completed in 2022.
Aside from Qiddiya, the kingdom has unveiled blueprints to build NEOM, a mega project billed as a regional Silicon Valley, in addition to the Red Sea project, a reef-fringed resort destination — both worth hundreds of billions of dollars. / AFP PHOTO / Saudi Royal Palace / BANDAR AL-JALOUD / RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE – MANDATORY CREDIT “AFP PHOTO