The Saudi leadership revealed to citizens and the world its capabilities and determination to move forward towards the implementation of the largest strategy ever in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

Report by Abdullah Al-Omeira

What distinguishes the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is that it has developed a strategy that is unprecedented neither in the history of the Kingdom, nor in the world.

Vision 2030, is a strategy, or road map towards building a modern state and advanced people.

Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdul-Aziz says about the Vision:“My first goal is for our country to be a successful and pioneering model in the world at all levels, and I will work with you to achieve this.”

On his part, the architect of the vision, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, says about it:“It expresses our long-term goals and hopes, and is based on the strengths and unique capabilities of our nation to build a vivid where all citizens c an realize their dream hopes and aspirations in a prosperous national economy. “

What distinguishes the vision is that it is a clear-cut map, not for the Saudis, but for the whole world - considering that the countries of the developed world are an essential partner in building human civilization through multiple (partnerships).

The Saudi leadership’s affirmations at the end of the week through the annual royal speech, or the speech of the Crown Prince, who demonstrated with all transparency the achievements made, and the outlook to the future, is a determination to move forward towards the implementation of that strategy.

I will quote excerpts from the speech of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, - may God protect him - about the Kingdom’s role in combating the Corona pandemic, and
its great role in stabilizing oil markets and combating terrorism and exerted his dear and precious efforts to accomplish the huge mega projects in Makkah Al-Mukarramah, the holy sites and Madinah, in order to facilitate the performance of the Hajj for Muslims coming from around the world.

And also his talk - may God protect him – about combating corruption and terrorism and the role of regional states in supporting terrorism, in addition to the kingdom’s support to the sister countries to help them achieve stability.

King Salman talked about Saudi Arabia’s 2030 vision, which is a better future road map for everyone who lives in this ambitious nation, and the vision’s contribution to
building and establishing, and accomplishing a set of achievements on several levels, most notably improving government services, raising the percentage of ownership in the housing sector and developing entertainment,sports and tourism, sectors and attracting many foreign investments, in addition to empowering women and activating their role in society and the labor market while preparing for the phase of advancing more achievements through citizens empowerment, greater involvement of the private sector, and more effective implementation of the strategy.

The speech of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman was detailed and supported by figures that confirm that the Kingdom is continuing to implement its strategy with full determination.

I cite her some of what was mentioned in the speech of His Highness the Crown Prince.

His Highness said at the beginning of the speech: “The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is one of the largest and most important economies in the world, and we are striving hard to
work to double the size and diversification of the economy. To pursue this, we in the government consider the non-oil GDP as the main indicator of the success of our economic plans, because the gross domestic product is affected by the fluctuation of quantities of oil production, and the government is not the main driver for it. “

His Highness indicated, “In 2016, the value of the non-oil GDP was estimated at 1.8 trillion riyals, and we in the Kingdom began to develop plans to double that at a rapid pace.”

He also talked about the Kingdom’s efforts to boost non-oil revenues and their impact on the economy.

His Highness praised the vision programs related to the basic services sectors, and set an example in the housing sector which has faced challenges for decades, mainly due to the absence of planning and weak governance of government work.

The Kingdom’s strategy has developed radical solutions, and the people of the Kingdom and the world have witnessed that and the percentage of citizens ’ownership of homes today has reached 60%, surpassing the target by 8%.

His Highness touched on the development and the achievements that have been made in the digital sector and explained, “The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has achieved the first place in digital competitiveness at the level of the G20 countries in the past three years, and has jumped 40 places in the digital infrastructure index for communications and information technology. We have invested more than 55 billion riyals in the Kingdom’s digital infrastructure.”

His Highness the Crown Prince emphasized the contribution of the Public Investment Fund to the development of the economy, saying, “The Public Investment Fund has become one of the main engines for the growth of the Saudi economy. We were able to double the size of the Public Investment Fund from 560 billion riyals to more than approximately 1.3 trillion riyals, with a steady pace towards achieving the goal of Vision 2030 that the fund’s assets exceed 7 trillion riyals.

Regarding the ongoing campaign to eradicate corruption in the Kingdom, His Highness the Crown Prince said, “Corruption has spread in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia during
the past decades ... and I consider this scourge is the first enemy of development and prosperity and the cause of the loss of many great opportunities in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. This thing has become a thing of the past and will not be repeated after today.

His Highness Prince Mohammed bin Salman noted the Kingdom’s efforts in combating the scourge of terrorism and extremism, saying, “The phenomenon of extremism among us was rampant, and we have reached a stage where we aim, at best, to coexist with this scourge. Eliminating it was not an option. No control over it was possible. I made promises in 2017 that we will eliminate extremism immediately, and we have actually started a serious campaign to address the causes and address the phenomena. Within one year, we were able to put an end to an ideological project that had existed for 40 years.

His Highness affirmed that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is witnessing a quantum leap in new and promising sectors due to the unique cultural heritage and geographic and
demographic diversity that the Kingdom possesses, which allows the Kingdom to be among the largest countries in the sectors of tourism, culture, sports, entertainment and others.

In the sports sector, His Highness explained, “The percentage of citizens practicing sports increased from 13% in 2015 to 19% in 2019. The sector’s contribution to GDP grew from 2.4 billion riyals in 2016 to 6.5 billion in 2018, an increase of 170% in just two years.

In the entertainment sector, His Highness pointed out, “We have been keen to facilitate obtaining licenses for events, which resulted in an increase in the number of events held in the Kingdom to more than 3,400 in 2019, which contributed to raising the spending rates for citizens, residents, visitors and tourists in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

In the culture sector, His Highness the Crown Prince noted, “Engaging in cultural fields has been prohibited, but today we see the Ministry of Culture establishing 11 bodies that work aggressively to develop all cultural sectors, which has a very significant impact on creating jobs, developing the economy,improving the quality of life and making our country more capable of attracting international talents and tourists.

His Highness the Crown Prince added, “The space sector has a direct impact on communications and technology and has a link with many sectors such as environment, transportation and others, and it will be a fundamental enabler for many sectors in the near future. Therefore, I was keen to ask my lord, the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques - may God protect him - in 2018 to establish a space commission and proposed a board of directors for it. And now, through the Council of Economic and Development Affairs and the competent authorities, we are working on adopting the Kingdom’s space strategy for the next ten years, and assigning the Space Authority to implement it, and its details will be announced later. ”

His Highness added, “Reforming the work environment and developing services is a major possibility. For example, the total requirements for investment licenses were reduced by 50%, the commercial and municipality licenses were issued immediately and electronically, and the containers were cleared in 24 hours after there was delays up to two weeks. About 279 services on the “Absher” platform, benefiting 18 million beneficiaries, in addition to the “Nagiz” platform, which has contributed to the reception of tens of thousands of electronic justice services that are completed within minutes.

His Highness the Crown Prince referred to the efforts of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in the rights file, and noted, “Saudi women to day are experiencing an unprecedented
phase of empowerment. We worked to empower Saudi women in the field of business and personal status, and today they are effectively a partner for the Saudi man in the development of our entire homeland without discrimination.

His Highness added, “With regard to the rights of expatriates, we have taken numerous measures to restructure the contractual relationship in a manner that preserves their rights and contributes to raising the degree of maturity in the labor market.

His Highness Prince Mohammed bin Salman concluded, “These achievements would not have been accomplished without the faith and work of the Saudi citizen, who has become today a pioneer in initiatives, achievements and action. I assigned His Excellency the Minister of Information and the concerned ministers to hold a regular press conference to discuss developments in government work, activate communication channels with all groups, and answer inquiries and questions.