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Oxagon CEO: NEOM Port to Redefine Global Trade

NEOM Port (Asharq Al-Awsat)
NEOM Port (Asharq Al-Awsat)
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Oxagon CEO: NEOM Port to Redefine Global Trade

NEOM Port (Asharq Al-Awsat)
NEOM Port (Asharq Al-Awsat)

Vishal Wanchoo, CEO of Oxagon, highlighted the city as a beacon of innovation and sustainability at the heart of Saudi Arabia’s transformation, saying that the NEOM Port is set to reshape global trade.

Oxagon, a reimagined industrial city within NEOM, offers a clean ecosystem attracting factories of the future, relying entirely on renewable energy to achieve net-zero emissions. Its strategic location on the Red Sea, near global shipping lanes, positions it as a key hub for major markets and urban centers.

Embracing Sustainable Solutions

Discussing Oxagon’s strategic vision, Wanchoo noted that traditional industries often pose environmental and health risks and contribute to climate change. He emphasized the urgency of adopting sustainable solutions, which has prompted sectors to accelerate the transition to clean technologies and green energy.

“Oxagon provides a clean industrial ecosystem that welcomes factories of the future from across the globe. By relying solely on renewable energy, we offer manufacturers a platform to achieve their net-zero goals,” Wanchoo explained.

Strengthening Local Supply Chains

Wanchoo underscored Oxagon’s alignment with Saudi Vision 2030, which prioritizes developing promising industries, enhancing logistics, and bolstering local, regional, and international trade networks.

“Our focus is on developing seven industrial zones, along with vibrant urban areas that stimulate economic growth through retail and hospitality,” Wanchoo stated. He emphasized Oxagon’s role in making Saudi Arabia a regional hub for imports and exports through the advanced NEOM Port on the Red Sea, connecting global trade routes.

He added: “With over 13% of global trade passing through the Suez Canal annually, NEOM Port’s location enhances its significance as a gateway between Europe and Asia.”

Attracting Foreign Investments

Looking ahead, Wanchoo outlined Oxagon’s goal of driving economic diversification, fostering innovation, and attracting foreign investments over the next five years.

“We are actively engaging with major manufacturers to enhance our industrial ecosystem, strengthen local supply chains, and establish Saudi Arabia as a regional and global manufacturing hub,” he said.

Environmental Commitment

Wanchoo highlighted Oxagon’s commitment to sustainable construction methods. The pilot integrated community, Oxagon Hive, exemplifies this by reducing waste, minimizing costs, and ensuring scalability.

He noted that since taking over Duba Port in 2022, Oxagon has made significant strides in transforming it into a sustainable and automated facility.

“We have reused 100% of excavated materials and recycled decommissioned port facilities for new developments,” he said.

Challenges and Opportunities

“Building a new industrial model from scratch is complex, but we prioritize state-of-the-art infrastructure to support advanced, clean manufacturing,” the CEO of Oxagon remarked. He underlined the importance of partnerships with innovative companies and the adoption of cutting-edge technologies like AI and robotics to address global challenges.

Pioneering Green Hydrogen

Oxagon is also home to the world’s largest green hydrogen plant, developed by NEOM Green Hydrogen Company. Scheduled to produce up to 600 metric tons of carbon-free hydrogen daily by 2026, the plant will operate entirely on solar and wind energy. Currently, 60% of the facility’s infrastructure has been completed.

The project relies on NEOM Port for equipment deliveries, including electrolyzers, wind turbines, and hydrogen storage vessels, crucial for the plant’s operation.

Research and Innovation

Oxagon’s innovation hub, Oxagon Innovation Bay, will become operational in 2025, powered by NEOM Energy & Water’s Enowa-Circle central power station. Initial projects include launching a 20 MW electrolyzer to produce 8 tons of hydrogen daily, providing valuable data to optimize the main plant’s performance.

Milestones of 2023 and 2024

Reflecting on recent achievements, Wanchoo highlighted the 2023 launch of the first global accelerator in partnership with McLaren, focusing on supply chain challenges. Seven startups were selected out of 80 applicants, with funding and connections to venture capital provided. Three pilot projects are now underway in NEOM.

In 2024, milestones include opening NEOM Port to investors and advancing seven selected startups from over 100 participants to the final stages of development.

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Business

Saudi Arabia Allows Contracting Exceptions for Firms without Regional HQ

The King Abdullah Financial District in Riyadh (Asharq Al-Awsat)
The King Abdullah Financial District in Riyadh (Asharq Al-Awsat)
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Saudi Arabia Allows Contracting Exceptions for Firms without Regional HQ

The King Abdullah Financial District in Riyadh (Asharq Al-Awsat)
The King Abdullah Financial District in Riyadh (Asharq Al-Awsat)

Saudi Arabia has introduced greater flexibility into its investment environment, allowing government entities, under strict controls to safeguard spending efficiency and ensure the delivery of critical projects, to seek exceptions to contract with international companies that do not have regional headquarters in the kingdom.

The Local Content and Government Procurement Authority notified all government bodies of the mechanism to apply for exemptions through the Etimad digital platform.

The step is designed to balance enforcement of the “regional headquarters relocation” decision, in force since early 2024, with the needs of technically specialized projects or those driven by intense price competition.

Under a government decision that took effect at the start of 2024, state entities, including authorities, institutions and government-affiliated funds, are barred from contracting with any foreign commercial company whose regional headquarters in the region is located outside Saudi Arabia.

According to the information, the Local Content and Government Procurement Authority informed all entities of the rules governing contracts with companies that lack a regional headquarters in the kingdom and related parties.

Government entities may request an exemption from the committee for specific projects, multiple projects or a defined time period, provided the application is submitted before launching a tender or initiating direct contracting procedures.

Submission mechanism

In two circulars, the authority detailed how to submit exemption requests and clarified the cases in which contracting is permitted under the controls. It said the exemption service was launched on the Etimad platform in November 2025.

The service is available to entities that float tenders through Etimad. Requests for tenders launched before the service went live, as well as those issued outside the platform, will continue to follow the previously adopted process.

Etimad is the kingdom’s official financial services portal run by the Ministry of Finance, aimed at driving digital transformation of government procedures and boosting transparency and efficiency in managing budgets, contracts, payments, tenders and procurement. The platform streamlines transactions between state entities and the private sector.

Technical criteria

When issuing the contracting controls, the government made clear that companies without a regional headquarters in Saudi Arabia, or related parties, are not barred from bidding for public tenders.

However, their offers can only be accepted in two cases: if there is no more than one technically compliant bid, or if the offer ranks among the best technically and is at least 25% lower in price than the second-best bid after overall evaluation.

Contracts with an estimated value of no more than 1 million riyals ($266,000) are also exempt. The minister may, in the public interest, amend the threshold, cancel the exemption or suspend it temporarily.

More than 700 headquarters

More than 700 multinational companies had relocated their regional headquarters to Riyadh by early 2026, exceeding the initial target of attracting 500 companies by 2030. The program seeks to cement the kingdom’s position as a regional business hub and to localize global expertise.

When announcing the contracting ban, Saudi Arabia said the move was intended to incentivize foreign firms dealing with the government and its affiliated entities to adjust their operations.

It aims to create jobs, curb economic leakage, raise spending efficiency and ensure that key goods and services procured by government entities are delivered inside the kingdom with appropriate local content.

The government said the policy aligns with the objectives of the Riyadh 2030 strategy unveiled during the recent Future Investment Initiative forum, where 24 multinational companies announced plans to move their regional headquarters to the Saudi capital.

It stressed that the decision does not affect any investor’s ability to enter the Saudi economy or continue working with the private sector.

 

Business

IMF Board to Review Staff-level $8.1 Bln Agreement for Ukraine

The city's downtown on a frosty winter day, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv, Ukraine February 19, 2026. REUTERS/Alina Smutko
The city's downtown on a frosty winter day, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv, Ukraine February 19, 2026. REUTERS/Alina Smutko
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IMF Board to Review Staff-level $8.1 Bln Agreement for Ukraine

The city's downtown on a frosty winter day, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv, Ukraine February 19, 2026. REUTERS/Alina Smutko
The city's downtown on a frosty winter day, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv, Ukraine February 19, 2026. REUTERS/Alina Smutko

The International Monetary Fund on Thursday said its board ​would review a staff-level agreement for a new $8.1 billion lending program for Ukraine in coming days.

IMF spokeswoman Jule Kozack told reporters that Ukrainian authorities had completed the prior actions needed to move forward with the request ⁠of a new ⁠IMF program, including submission of a draft law on the labor code and adoption of a budget.

She said Ukraine's economic growth in 2025 ⁠was likely under 2%. After four years of war, the country's economy had settled into a slower growth path with larger fiscal and current account balances, she said, noting that the IMF continues to monitor the situation closely.

"Russia's invasion continues to take a ⁠heavy ⁠toll on Ukraine's people and its economy," Kozack said. Intensified aerial attacks by Russia had damaged critical energy and logistics infrastructure, causing disruptions to economic activity, Reuters quoted her as saying.

As of January, she said, 5 million Ukrainian refugees remained in Europe and 3.7 million Ukrainians were displaced inside the country.

Business

US Stocks Fall as Iran Angst Lifts Oil Prices

A screen displays a stock chart at a work station on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York City, US, April 6, 2022. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid
A screen displays a stock chart at a work station on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York City, US, April 6, 2022. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid
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US Stocks Fall as Iran Angst Lifts Oil Prices

A screen displays a stock chart at a work station on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York City, US, April 6, 2022. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid
A screen displays a stock chart at a work station on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York City, US, April 6, 2022. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid

Wall Street stocks retreated early Thursday as worries over US-Iran tensions lifted oil prices while markets digested mixed results from Walmart.

US oil futures rose to a six-month high as Iran's atomic energy chief Mohammad Eslami said no country can deprive the Islamic republic of its right to nuclear enrichment, after US President Donald Trump again hinted at military action following talks in Geneva.

"We'd call this an undercurrent of concern that is bubbling up in oil prices," Briefing.com analyst Patrick O'Hare said of the "geopolitical angst."

About 10 minutes into trading, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.6 percent at 49,379.46, AFP reported.

The broad-based S&P 500 fell 0.5 percent to 6,849.35, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index declined 0.6 percent to 22,621.38.

Among individual companies, Walmart rose 1.7 percent after reporting solid results but offering forecasts that missed analyst expectations.

Shares of the retail giant initially fell, but pushed higher after Walmart executives talked up artificial intelligence investments on a conference call with analysts.

The US trade deficit in goods expanded to a new record in 2025, government data showed, despite sweeping tariffs that Trump imposed during his first year back in the White House.