Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF) said its founding board has approved the masterplan for Neom Bay, a eco-friendly tourist destination coming up within its $500-billion futuristic city, Neom.

It will be Neom’s first window to the world, blessed with pristine white beaches and a temperate climate.

With all the preparations completed including the greenlight to the masterplan, the construction work is set to start in the first quarter of 2019, reported SPA.

It is expected that a number of key facilities will be completed by the end of this year including the current airport at Sharma, which will be upgraded to become a commercial airport operating regular flights between Riyadh and Neom.

Phase One of Neom Bay, the first urban area to be developed in Neom, will be completed in 2020, it added.

In line with Neom's goals to find solutions to the key challenges facing human society, the luxury tourist project will provide an ideal environment that focuses on improving health and well-being for its residents, offering next-generation technologies in mobility and creating an intelligent urban ecosystem with advanced infrastructure, said the report.

Neom Founding Board, chaired by HRH Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz, Crown Prince, Vice President of the Council of Ministers and Chairman of Board of Directors of Public Fund Investment, gave instructions to complete all the required preparations.

Commenting on the key step, Neom CEO Nadhmi Al Nasr said: "This year will be a milestone in Neom's journey. We are now preparing for the development of Neom Bay area, which will provide a new concept of urban living that will enable it to become a platform for attracting the world's top minds for creating advanced economic sectors."

"The strategy of developing Neom Bay will rely on four key pillars that will be ingrained in the entire project development, with sustainability at the heart of aspect of the project," he stated.

"The first is to provide a living experience and an ideal quality of life for families; the second is to create a high-end lifestyle and a luxurious tourist destination; the third and fourth pillars are to support both innovation and creative centres in order to achieve Neom’s economic goals.” he added.