Gulf Construction Online - Aecom wins deal for Neom Bay Phase One

Saudi Focus

Aecom wins deal for Neom Bay Phase One

01 August 2019

Global infrastructure services firm Aecom has been awarded a multi-year contract to provide project management consultancy (PMC) services for Phase One of the ambitious Neom Bay project.

Part of the $500-billion Saudi futuristic city Neom, the eco-friendly tourist destination is being developed in northwest Saudi Arabia within the Neom Zone, which is spread over a sprawling 26,000-sq-km area.

As per the deal, Aecom will provide a full suite of services to support the delivery of Phase One of Neom Bay, a 45-sq-km area located within Neom. Its scope of work includes project management, contract administration, technical and environmental support services, and site supervision over the entire design and construction phases of the project.

Located in the country’s far north-west at the intersection with Jordan and Egypt, Neom will be an special economic zone and diverse society offering world-class education, healthcare and culture, purpose built for a new way of living.

On the contract win, Aecom Arabia president and CEO Ian Laski said: “We are delighted that Neom has chosen us to drive the delivery of this significant project. The award is testament to our integrated offer, global reach and local knowledge, as well as strong leadership commitment globally to pursue large programmes of work in Saudi Arabia.”

Neom Bay Phase One is intended to be the first showcase of the Neom vision to the world. When complete, it will comprise several thousand residential units, leisure, retail, commercial, public and entertainment facilities with supporting infrastructure and utilities.

“For the past 50 years we have demonstrated our leading project management expertise in Saudi Arabia and we continue to grow this part of our business,” remarked Hamed Zaghw, the chief executive for Aecom (Middle East and Africa). “We have already begun to mobilise local and global resources to bring the best of Aecom’s project management capability to this transformational project.”

Meanwhile, Neom Bay Airport has achieved a major milestone with the successful operation of its debut commercial flight following the completion of Phase One of its development work.

The airport, which is located in Sharma in the north-western region of Tabuk, will serve the high-tech city of Neom that is currently under construction, said the Saudi General Authority of Civil Aviation (Gaca).

The Neom airport has also taken a giant stride in its journey towards a new tomorrow with its airport operating 5G network technology, the first application regionally.

On its official Twitter account, the Saudi Communications and Information Technology Commission (CITC) said Neom Bay Airport is the first 5G-supported airport in the region.