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The Essential: From Our Own Correspondent: A Ghost of Saudi's Future?

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From Our Own Correspondent: A Ghost of Saudi's Future?

23/06/2016 GMT

BBC World Service - The Essential, From Our Own Correspondent: A Ghost of Saudi's Future?

Stephen Sackur ponders the aims (and reality) of the vast KAEC project in Saudi Arabia

On a specially-arranged visit to the vast King Abdullah Economic City project, Stephen Sackur considers what ideals it's trying to project - and how likely it is to succeed

Long before the oil price slump, many analysts were arguing that Saudi Arabia's economy was distorted and urgently needed to modernise. The huge King Abdullah Economic City project, still under construction, was designed and intended to take the Kingdom straight into a modern economic setting and infrastructure. While the scale and ambition of the project are hugely impressive, and much has already been built, on a recent visit to the site, Stephen Sackur was driven to ask some awkward questions about how realistic the blueprint for success really is. 

Photo: The entrance of King Abdullah Economic City (Omar Salem/AFP/Getty Images)

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