Saudi Arabia announces $500-bn investment city linked to Egypt, Jordan

Saudi Arabia, seeking to free itself from dependence on oil exports has announced on Tuesday a $500 billion plan to build a business and industrial zone extending into Jordan and Egypt.

The 26,500 square km (10,230 square mile) zone, known as NEOM, to be powered entirely by renewable energy, will focus on industries including energy and water, biotechnology, food, advanced manufacturing and entertainment, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman said.

The announcement was the highlight at the opening of a three-day international business conference drawing over 3,500 people from 88 countries.

Prince Mohammed, in a rare public address, hailed it as an example of the innovative high tech future he has promised his highly conservative country.

Speaking on a panel, he said young Saudis and the promotion of moderate Islam were the key to his modernising "dream" for his country, the world's largest oil exporter. In a brief political comment, he said the country would eradicate extremism soon.

The stakes in the country's rapid modernisation were high.

"This is a double-edged sword. If they (young Saudis) work and go the right way, with all their force they will create another country, something completely different ... and if they go the wrong direction it will be the destruction of this country," he said.
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Disgust over corruption threaten stability in Middle East, North Africa

During the Tunisian revolution of 2010-11, which sparked the Arab uprisings, protesters would chant “A job is a right, you pack of thieves!”. In Ben Ali’s Tunisia, supposedly a “democratising” country that regularly received Western praise for its economic “reforms”, people felt increasingly marginalised both economically and politically.

Tunisians have been out on the streets again recently, demonstrating against government policies and especially against corruption and unemployment. There have also been protests against corruption in Morocco. It is all very reminiscent of what happened seven years ago, where ending corruption was one of the principal demands of protesters alongside social justice and political freedom.

Our recent research suggests that corruption continues to be a major cause of discontent throughout the Middle East and North Africa. It confirms the findings in Transparency International’s Corruption Perception Index, which ranks several countries in the region among the most corrupt in the world. Does this mean we are in danger of seeing history repeat itself?

Transparency International rankings 2016
Expectations of change after the uprisings have become increasingly frustrated: Jordan and Morocco have attempted to absorb protest; Egypt’s counter-revolution continues to stifle any significant change; and rumbling discontent in Tunisia is a reaction to the government’s failure to deliver on promises of jobs, development and fighting corruption.

Our latest research, which is part of the Arab Transformations Project, includes a public opinion poll of almost 10,000 people across the region carried out in late 2014. It found that corruption was perceived as by far the most important cause of the Arab Uprisings in Iraq, Libya, Morocco and Tunisia. In Egypt and Jordan, it came a close second after economic problems.

Around 60 per cent of all respondents thought there was still a great deal of government corruption in their country. Nor did citizens see any signs of a government crackdown – essential for any significant transition to stabilised democracy.
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