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Edelman agreed this month to provide communications services to Neom, the $500B mega-city that is the linchpin of Saudi Arabia Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s plan to diversify the Kingdom’s oil-based economy.
Fees for strategic counsel, media relations, stakeholder engagement and content development are capped at $75K per-month under the pact that runs through February.
A formal contract between the No. 1 independent PR firm and Neom, which is owned by Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund, is currently under negotiation.
Neom was the site of a Nov. 22 secret meeting between Prince Salman, Israel prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Mossad spy agency chief Yossi Cohen, according to reports in the Israeli press. The Saudis say such a meeting never took place.
Edelman already works for Saudi Basic Industries, which earlier this year hired it to a $5.6M pact for strategic communications surrounding the B20 summit.
The B20 group represented the business voice at the B20 Summit that ran from Nov. 20-21 in Riyadh.
Edelman joins the Neom PR team that includes Ruder Finn, which has a $1.7M one-year pact for website management and social media, and Teneo, holder of six-month $840K contract for managing the planned city’s communications department.
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Hogan Lovells has signed a $100K monthly pact to represent Venezuela’s Ministry of Economy and Finance, and its Washington embassy.
Liberia has agreed to pay a $100K monthly retainer to Ballard Partners for counsel on how to improve its relations with the US.
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