First came news stories earlier this week about construction delays and concerns about snowmaking capacity at NEOM’s planned Trojena desert ski resort.

Now, the Financial Times reports that organizers of the 2029 Asian Winter Games are shopping for alternative countries in which to hold the competition because they fear the Saudi site won’t be ready.

One part of the project requires blasting out huge amounts of rock and installing some 3,000 tension cables, a process that could take eight years, according to the FT.

Trojena, which is 2,600 meters above sea level, is planned to have 30 kilometers of ski runs available between December and March each year.

While there is some natural snow in the area, it is rare, and so the resort will rely completely on artificial snow. 

Saudi Arabia is increasingly finding sports to be a lucrative source of cash.

The kingdom’s Ministry of Sport announced this week it has put two soccer teams, Al Najma and Al Okhdood, up for sale as part of its privatization campaign, Arabian Gulf Business Insights reports.

Last year, the Public Investment Fund bought ownership of four clubs from the government, including Al-Nassr, home to Portuguese superstar Cristiano Ronaldo.

Al-Kholood was bought last month by American investor Ben Harburg.

Egypt is planning a nationwide geological survey of mining sites that are likely to attract foreign investment.

The study will compile detailed geological data and map potential deposits of gold, copper and other minerals across the country, Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources Karim Badawi said in a statement.

The information will be made available to prospective investors to support bidding in upcoming exploration tenders.

As part of the initiative, the ministry plans to coordinate with international consultants and local institutions to update and digitize existing geological records.

Abu Dhabi’s Masdar green energy company is shifting gears to focus on meeting the voracious power needs of AI data centers.

After budgeting billions of dollars for developing green hydrogen into a commercial fuel, Masdar has found few buyers and decided to reallocate its resources, Bloomberg reports.

For Masdar, which is owned by the ADNOC national oil company, the TAQA national energy company, and the Mubadala sovereign wealth fund, lower-than-expected revenue figures told the story, CEO Mohamed Jameel Al Ramahi says.

“Today, green hydrogen is under pressure and the market is shrinking. A lot of people who went into this venture are out. We are not,” Al Ramahi told Bloomberg. “But we also need to respect global dynamics.” 

In the renewables industry, Masdar is not alone. Many of its peers around the world have invested deeply in green hydrogen amid broad excitement over the fuel’s promise for providing clean, cheap and plentiful energy. Weak demand and high costs, however, have forced the industry to pull back.

Instead, Masdar has decided to divert the money toward an expected boom in power consumption from AI data centers, Al Ramahi said. One of the world’s biggest such projects is the $545 million facility that the UAE’s du telecom company is planning with Microsoft.

“My basic business mandate isn’t hydrogen or aluminum or whatever,” Al-Ramahi said. “It is green electron capacity.”

In another area of its business, Al-Rahimi said Tuesday that a Masdar-led consortium has secured $1.1 billion in financing from eight regional and international banks to support development of the 2-gigawatt Al Sadawi solar power plant in Saudi Arabia.

It isn’t easy to produce snow in the desert.

That basic problem surrounding Saudi Arabia’s planned Trojena ski resort is emerging as a major test of the kingdom’s $1.5 trillion NEOM development as it races to fulfill its commitment to hosting the 2029 Asian Winter Games.

Introduced in 2022 as one of NEOM’s eye-popping, futuristic projects, Trojena is building ski slopes atop luxury hotel roofs, a lake hanging over a mountain cliff and a crystal skyscraper the size of the Eiffel Tower.

Trojena, which is estimated to cost $19 billion, is already likely to miss its target completion date of 2026, Bloomberg reports.

That worries officials at the Asian Games, who generally expect key infrastructure to be in place well in advance of major events

Among concerns being raised are the challenges of pumping enough water up a mountain for a planned lake at Trojena, creating sufficient artificial snow and the difficulties of building at high altitudes in an area with complex topography.

NEOM, which is owned by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, maintains the project will meet its deadlines.

“The development of NEOM, including Trojena, is progressing according to a phased plan that emphasizes international standards, long-term sustainability and legacy outcomes,” the company said in a statement to Bloomberg. “Work on Trojena, Neom’s year-round mountain destination, continues.”

Chinese PC maker Lenovo is joining the parade of international firms responding to Saudi directives that they establish their regional headquarters in the kingdom.

The company is teaming up with Alat, a unit of Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, to build a manufacturing facility for PCs, laptops, smartphones, and servers.

Headed by Lenovo veteran Lawrence Yu, the office will aim to reinforce the Chinese company’s presence and manufacturing capabilities in the Middle East, Reuters reports.

Saudi Arabia implemented new rules this year that require international firms to establish a regional HQ in the country as a condition for receiving government contracts.

The real estate boom in Abu Dhabi and Dubai is reverberating across the rest of the Gulf.

Robust sales, rising values and growing investor demand are evident for both residential and commercial properties throughout the region, Markaz, the Kuwait Financial Centre, says in a newly issued report.

In the first quarter of 2025, the UAE real estate market led the region with transaction values reaching $65 billion. Dubai sales increased 30% from the same period in 2024.

Reviewing Saudi Arabia’s property market, Markaz noted the 37% increase in first-quarter sales compared to the previous year and a 4.3% increase in the real estate price index.

Citing lower interest rates, government fiscal support and sustained state investment in economic diversification, Markaz found signs that Kuwait’s real estate is rebounding, though the office market remains flat. Overall, first quarter property sales rose 45% to $2.6 billion from the year-ago quarter, the report said.

Investors in the UAE are showing greater interest in Indian markets.

To cultivate Emirati business, Kotak International, the global arm of India’s third-largest private lender Kotak Mahindra, said it plans to launch India-focused retail funds in the UAE.

Kotak announced on Monday that it’s been granted a license by the UAE’s Securities & Commodities Authority to sell investment funds and portfolios to onshore retail investors, the first Indian firm authorized for such sales.

Shyam Kumar, President of Kotak International, told Reuters that India’s young working population is appealing for foreign investors. “India has got a story which is extremely wide and diversified,” Kumar said.