Klaus Kleinfeld named adviser to Saudi Crown Prince

Klaus Kleinfeld, the chief executive officer of $500 billion NEOM project, has been appointed as advisor to Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Bloomberg reported, citing a government statement.

Kleinfeld, a German executive who ran Siemens AG and Arconic Inc, will “take over wider responsibilities to enhance the economic, technological and financial development” of the Kingdom as an adviser to Crown Prince, the statement said.

He will retain a role at NEOM as a board member, effective Aug. 1.

Meanwhile, Nadhmi Al-Nasr, who led the development of Neom Bay – the project’s initial stage – will take over as NEOM's CEO, the statement added.

In a separate statement, NEOM said that Al-Nasr has worked on the strategy and development of NEOM Bay as a member of the founding board and is also interim president of the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology.

A former manager at Saudi Aramco, he will be responsible for developing the business plans for the core economic sectors of the new city, the statement added.

In October 2017, Crown Prince announced plans to build $500 billion NEOM, a new economic zone project, in northwest Saudi Arabia, with its land mass extending across the Egyptian and Jordanian borders.