Last week’s announcement from Saudi Arabia’s crown prince Mohammed bin Salman about the launch of the futuristic city ‘Neom’ has sparked chatter all over social media channels in the MENA region and beyond.
Well over 60,000 mentions of the term Neom have been recorded globally – with 75% of those in Arabic, owing to mass online mentions in The Kingdom about the new project, all alongside certain keywords like ‘Vision 2030’, ‘Next Generation’ and ‘Future’.
Envisioned for construction in the northwest Saudi region (stretching into both Jordan and Egypt), $500bn has already been set aside to commission Neom, with the first phase of the zero-energy mega project expected to be complete in 2025. The goal? To be 33 times bigger than New York City, and positioned at the forefront of key economic pillars, including manufacturing, biotechnology, and – its biggest asset – solar-powered energy.
For the meantime, here’s a look at how often ‘Neom’ cropped up on social last week
Joining #Neom buzzing around Saudi Arabian social media was also ‘Sophia’ – the first robot to be granted citizenship in the country.
Source: Meltwater