Kingdom is developing economic and entertainment hubs Developments aim to create jobs and boost investment After relying on oil to fuel its economy for more than half a century, Saudi Arabia is turning to its other abundant natural resource to take it beyond the oil age — desert. The kingdom is converting thousands of square kilometers of sand into new cities as it seeks to diversify away from crude, create jobs and boost investment. In the past month alone, the world’s biggest oil exporter has announced two major developments — one covering an area bigger than Belgium and another almost the size of Moscow. That’s on top of plans to build a series of so-called economic cities — special zones in logistics, tourism, industry and finance, an entertainment city and a $10 billion financial district. “The overall progress with the economic cities has been very slow, even before the […]