RIYADH — The Red Sea Development Company (TRSDC), the developer behind the world’s most ambitious regenerative tourism project, has released its Internal Control Toolkit, a guide to best practice in governance, for other organizations in Saudi Arabia to implement and benefit from as part of its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) effort.

The toolkit offers step-by-step guidance through the governance procedures that can be rolled out from day one of any project or business set up and is now available for download on The Red Sea Development Company website.

This is the same framework that TRSDC has used and will continue to follow for the management of both The Red Sea Project and AMAALA.

“Regenerative tourism is at the heart of everything we do, and our strong governance principles underpin our entire operations.

“We are committed to setting a new standard as we deliver world-leading destinations which is why we have developed this toolkit to guide our planning and implementation.

“I am especially proud that we are sharing our knowledge and experience with other organizations to encourage the adoption of high governance standards across the Kingdom,” said John Pagano, CEO of TRSDC.

The company’s approach to governance focuses on four key principles: transparency, fairness, accountability and responsibility.

The Internal Controls Toolkit has already been shared with a number of organisations who have all welcomed the guidance and implemented positive changes to their businesses as a result.

“Our approach to good governance is so much more than simply complying with a set of rules and regulations. It ensures that all functions of an organization live and breathe the same set of ethical standards and promotes transparency and accountability, so that business goals are monitored and met.

“We hope that by making our Internal Controls Toolkit publicly available through this CSR initiative, we help and support other entities on their governance journey thereby improving governance in the Kingdom and achieving one of the cornerstones of Vision 2030,” said Dr. Maryam Ficociello, chief governance officer at TRSDC.

TRSDC is committed to international frameworks and reporting structures that go beyond national legal requirements.

This includes developing the toolkit following guidelines provided by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO) which sets out a comprehensive methodology for setting up and continuously monitoring internal controls to allow organizations to continuously assess and improve their internal controls environment.

TRSDC is also aligned with the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) sustainability reporting — the world’s most widely used standard for sustainability reporting, which responds to TRSDC’s commitment to transparency and accountability.

TRSDC recently won the Special Recognition Award — Real Estate Developer — Middle East at the Ethical Boardroom Corporate Governance Awards 2021 in acknowledgment of its outstanding efforts and achievements to date.

TRSDC also became the first Saudi developer to be awarded ISO31000:2018 certification earlier this year, the International Organization for Standardization’s highest available standard in risk management.

The Red Sea Project has already passed significant milestones and work is on track to welcome the first guests by the end of 2022, when the first hotels will open. Phase one, which includes 16 hotels in total and an international airport, will complete in 2023.

Upon completion in 2030, The Red Sea Project will comprise 50 resorts, offering up to 8,000 hotel rooms and more than 1,000 residential properties across 22 islands and six inland sites. The destination will also include luxury marinas, golf courses, entertainment and leisure facilities. — SG