The Council of Economic and Development Affairs reviews the most prominent achievements of the Kingdom's 2030 vision, five years after its launch

His Royal Highness Prince Muhammad bin Salman bin Abdulaziz, Crown Prince, Deputy Prime Minister and Chairman of the Council of Economic and Development Affairs - may God protect him - confirmed that the programs of realizing the vision of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia 2030 were able - with the help and grace of God - to achieve exceptional achievements and addressed structural challenges within five years Just.

His Highness the Crown Prince raised his thanks to the shrine of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud - may God support him - for what the Kingdom's Vision 2030 finds of great support and great care.

His Highness also expressed his appreciation for the efforts of all government agencies, as they overcame many challenges during the past period, praising the invaluable experiences gained, which strengthened confidence in achieving the goals of the vision. His Highness affirmed that much remains to be done on various levels. To continue work to achieve the goals of the Kingdom's Vision 2030 as hoped and desired.

The Council of Economic and Development Affairs has reviewed what has been achieved by the Kingdom's vision 2030 after five years since its launch, which focused in its past years on establishing enabling infrastructure, building institutional and legislative structures, setting public policies, and enabling initiatives, while its focus in its next phase will be on following up Implementation, advancing achievement and further enhancing citizen and private sector participation. This review was divided into the three vision axes, as follows:

First: a vibrant community:

The Council reviewed the achievements that aim to raise the quality of life within an attractive and distinctive environment. To make the Kingdom a leading global destination, including facilitating access to emergency health services within 4 hours, at a rate of more than 87%, compared to 36% before the launch of the vision, and reducing the rate of road accident deaths annually to 13.5 deaths per 100,000 people after it was 28.8, and a higher rate Sports practitioners at least once a week, to reach 19% in 2020, compared to 13% before the launch of the vision.

The council also reviewed the most prominent achievements in the housing sector, as home ownership increased to 60% compared to 47% five years ago, in addition to obtaining housing subsidies becoming immediate after it took up to 15 years before the launch of the vision.

The Council followed up the indicators related to the growing interest in archaeological and heritage sites, which had a direct impact on registering new Saudi sites in the World Heritage List of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), and the increase in the number of heritage sites that can be visited in the Kingdom in 2020 AD to 354 sites after they There were 241 sites in 2017. The Council also touched on the efforts made to strengthen the Saudi identity and enhance its presence globally, as the number of intangible cultural heritage elements registered with UNESCO has become 8 elements, compared to only 3 elements before the launch of the vision, and the number of urban heritage sites registered in the Cultural Heritage Register has reached NBK Capital increased to 1,000 sites in 2020 AD, compared to only 400 sites in 2016.

The Council discussed the increase in the capacity of the Kingdom's Vision 2030 programs to receive the guests of Rahman, by expanding the system of services of the Two Holy Mosques and the holy sites, and automating the process of obtaining an Umrah visa, so that the period of obtaining it becomes only 5 minutes, while it previously took 14 days. In addition to the launch of the "electronic tourist visa" that can be obtained electronically within minutes, in order to facilitate visiting the tourist places in the Kingdom, their monuments and heritage, and contribute to revitalizing the tourism sector and raising its contribution to the domestic product, developing many and varied tourist destinations, and generating job opportunities for the sons and daughters of this The homeland, which made the Kingdom's tourism sector the fastest growing in the world, with a growth rate of 14%.

The Council monitored the contribution of the Vision's programs during the past five years to improving the quality of life in the Kingdom by attracting and organizing a number of famous international sporting events and events, and its success in the entertainment activities it launched, including the launch of more than 2000 sports, cultural and volunteer activities - in the presence of more than 46 One million visitors until 2020 AD - This has resulted in a doubling of the number of companies operating in the entertainment sector, reaching more than 1,000 companies, which contributed to the creation of more than 101 thousand jobs by the end of 2020.

The Council reviewed the achievements of the preservation, sustainability and protection of the environment, including the establishment of seven royal natural reserves in 2018 and 2019 to preserve plant and animal species and to be a living genetic reservoir, and to achieve global achievements in the production of desalinated water: as the Kingdom topped the global production of desalination of saline water with the highest production capacity of the General Organization for Desalination Saline water, which reached 5.9 million m3 per day in 2020, and the replacement of thermal technologies and the expansion of the use of environmentally friendly technologies contributed to achieving a reduction in carbon dioxide emissions of 28 million tons per year. In addition to what was witnessed during the same period of announcing mega projects to preserve the environment, the most recent of which are the “Green Saudi Arabia” and “Green Middle East” initiatives, which aim to raise vegetation cover, reduce carbon emissions, combat pollution and land degradation, and preserve marine life.

Second: A thriving economy:

The Council reviewed the initiatives aimed at providing an environment that supports business potential and broadens the economic base. The assets of the Public Investment Fund have doubled to reach about 1.5 trillion riyals in 2020, after they did not exceed 570 billion riyals in 2015, and it should be noted that the rate of international foreign investment flows has decreased by an amount. 58% since the year 2015 AD, in addition to the growth of foreign direct investment inflows in Saudi Arabia to reach 17.625 billion riyals, an increase of 331% after it was 5.321 billion riyals before the launch of the vision. These initiatives also included launching major projects that contribute to the welfare of society, provide jobs and attract International investments, the most important of which are: NEOM, Qiddiya, Red Sea projects, and others.

The Council reviewed the achievements of the financial sector development, which included joining the Saudi Stock Exchange “Tadawul” to the emerging market indices MSCI and Standard & Poor's Dow Jones, which made it easier for foreign investors to invest in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, as the value of their holdings in the market increased by a percentage 195.9% to reach 208.3 billion riyals by the end of 2020 AD, with an ownership rate of 12.8% of the total value of shares. The Saudi Fintech Center was established with the aim of opening financial services to new types of actors in the field of financial technology, and developing funds, accelerators and incubators that focus on Financial technology to provide venture capital and equity financing and stimulate an entrepreneurial environment. These achievements contributed to making the Saudi Stock Exchange "Tadawul" one of the 10 largest financial markets around the world.

The Council reviewed the performance of the National Center for Public Debt Management, as the center has managed, during the past five years since its establishment, to support the general budget of the Kingdom by approximately 897 billion riyals.

The Council discussed the achievements made in the fields of creating jobs for the future and supporting innovation, by supporting small and medium enterprises as one of the most important engines of economic growth, most notably the Kingdom’s progress to the 12th rank in the Availability of Capital Index in the Global Competitiveness Report 2020, in addition to the Kingdom achieving third place in the world in Minority Investor Protection Index, as the Kingdom advanced in the Global Competitiveness Report 2020 to the 24th in the world, and it was ranked 39 in 2018. Meanwhile, Saudi women's participation in the workforce increased to reach 33.2% in 2020, from 19.4% in 2017, in addition to developing laws that protect and enhance their rights at the personal and professional levels.

The Council discussed the acceleration in the growth of the non-oil GDP ratio to reach 59% in 2020, from 55% in 2016. Non-oil revenues also increased to reach 369 billion riyals in 2020, compared to 166 billion riyals in 2015, an increase of 222%, while the number of factories increased by 38% to 9,984 factories compared to 7,206 factories before the launch of the vision. This coincided with the launch of pioneering initiatives, including: the launch of the "Made in Saudi Arabia" program, and the launch of the "Shrek" program; To strengthen partnership with the private sector and increase the pace of GDP growth, establish an export-import bank, and launch a mining investment system.

In the field of digital economy, the Council reviewed the initiatives that placed the Kingdom in the first place in digital competitiveness at the level of the Group of Twenty, achieving the first place in the world in Internet speed on the fifth generation, and covering more than 60% of major cities and 45% of other cities by spreading more Out of 12 thousand towers that support 5G technology, achieving the sixth place in the twentieth group in the Global Cybersecurity Index of the International Telecommunication Union, and the expansion of optical fiber network coverage, as 3.5 million homes in urban areas were covered with optical fiber networks in 2020 AD, after it was 1.2 million House in 2017 AD. In addition to attracting the largest technology investments in the Middle East and North Africa, with deals that exceeded six billion riyals in the cloud computing sector.

In the field of energy, the Council reviewed the most prominent achievements made since the launch of the Kingdom's Vision 2030, which included distinguished achievements at the national and international levels. The Kingdom established the OPEC Plus Group for Petroleum Producers, which in 2020 reached a historic achievement represented in achieving the largest reduction in production it has known. The oil market, which contributed to restoring stability and balance to global markets and confronting the effects of the Corona pandemic on the global economy. The Kingdom also encouraged the concept of a circular carbon economy adopted by the G20, demonstrating the Kingdom's commitment to protecting the environment and combating climate change within the framework of the Paris Agreement and relevant international conventions.

The first projects of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques for renewable energy were also inaugurated, which is the Sakaka plant for the production of electricity, and other projects for the production of electricity from solar energy have been announced in different regions of the Kingdom, and some of these projects have achieved new records represented in recording the lowest cost of purchasing Electricity produced from solar energy in the world.

The total capacity of these projects was estimated at more than 3600 MW; It will provide energy for more than 600,000 housing units. This is in addition to a number of clean energy projects to produce hydrogen and ammonia.

Renewable energy projects will contribute to diversifying the energy mix used in electricity production, so that electricity production from renewable energy and gas will be 50% each by 2030, and this will result in the displacement of approximately one million oil equivalent barrels of liquid fuel. The electricity sector also witnessed clear and deliberate steps towards enhancing its efficiency, effectiveness and sustainability, such as the restructuring of the sector, the issuance of the new electricity system, and the reorganization of the Water and Electricity Regulatory Authority. In addition, more than ten million smart electronic meters have been installed, in a step towards digitizing the sector. The Saudi petroleum industry also witnessed the approval of the development of the giant Jafurah natural gas field, the discovery of five new oil and gas fields, and the continued integration of the petroleum and petrochemical sectors.

The Council reviewed the contributions of the vision programs in creating an environment conducive to developing skills and continuing to invest in education and training, as the number of universities and colleges reached 63 universities and colleges at a time when the published scientific research reached 33,588 researches compared to 15,056 research in previous years, an increase of 223 %. The enrollment rate in kindergartens has also increased, to 23%, from 13%.

The Council followed up on what was achieved in the field of localizing military industries, as the Kingdom's Vision 2030 programs were able to raise the rate of Emiratisation in the sector to reach 8% by the end of 2020 AD, after it was 2% in 2016. Also, for the first time in the history of the Kingdom, a program of licenses to engage in military industries activities was launched, whereby 91 local and international companies were licensed, with 142 foundation licenses.

Third: an ambitious nation:

In the scope of upgrading systems and services, and expanding communication channels between government agencies, citizens and the private sector, the Council reviewed the achievements of the initiatives that made major transformations in the effectiveness of government work, including the issuance of more than 197 legislations in various fields, including regulations, regulations, bylaws and organizational arrangements, and raising the rate of The maturity of digital government services to 81.3% compared to 60% in 2017, which contributed significantly to the improvement of services provided to citizens and residents of the Kingdom.

The Council followed up on what has been achieved in terms of enhancing integrity and combating corruption, as the culture of accountability has been entrenched at the level of the government apparatus and the citizen, and the total amount recovered by the public treasury from anti-corruption settlements reached 247 billion riyals in the past three years, and this represents 20% of the total non-oil revenues, in addition to Tens of billions of non-cash assets transferred to the Finance Ministry.

The council reviewed the qualitative leaps achieved by the achievements related to the justice facility, as the rate of completion of enforcement courts increased to 82%, the rate of completion of personal status courts to 59%, the strengthening of the specialized judiciary system, the activation of litigation in two degrees, and the activation of electronic litigation, where the number of sessions reached More than (10 million judicial sessions) were held since 2015 AD until 2020 AD, while the number of sessions from 2009 AD to 2014 reached (2.7 million judicial sessions), and the number of agencies issued increased to (11 million agencies) from 2015 AD until 2020 AD compared to With (2.2 million agencies) from 2009 AD to 2014 AD.

Emiratization agreements were launched and signed with the various supervisory authorities with the aim of increasing the Emiratisation rates in the sectors, and the employment of more than 422 thousand citizens and their citizens has been achieved as a result of these agreements since the beginning of 2019.

The Council discussed what has been achieved in the non-profit sector and social responsibility. The number of volunteers in the year 2020 AD reached 409,123 volunteers in more than 156 thousand volunteer opportunities compared to 23,000 volunteers in 2016. The number of volunteers registered in the volunteer platform reached 533,950 volunteers, and the volunteers reached 533,950 volunteers. Per person from 0.6 riyals per hour in 2016 to 21.27 riyals per hour. In addition, the council dealt with providing adequate housing for those covered by social security services and those in their position, according to the ownership or usufruct system, and that is through integration and partnership with the non-profit sector and more than 350 associations, through insuring more than 46 thousand property. In addition, the housing existence platform was launched to involve the community in providing a helping hand for housing charitable giving through a reliable platform and in cooperation with 121 charitable societies. Rent for the dwelling.

The next stage in achieving Saudi Arabia's vision 2030:

The Council took a number of recommendations necessary to move to the next stage of the process of realizing the Kingdom's Vision 2030, which was launched at the beginning of this year 2021 AD, and continues until 2025 AD, which is the stage of advancing achievement and maintaining the momentum required to continue reforms.

This includes making development updates on the programs to achieve the vision; To ensure its consistency with the targets, raise the efficiency of spending and respond to economic developments, through three basic axes:

The first is: restructuring some of the current programs, and creating others to keep pace with the requirements of the next stage, such as establishing a "health sector transformation" program that aims to restructure the health sector; To be a comprehensive health system to achieve the vision aspirations.

The second axis of developmental updates focuses on giving flexibility to the implementation schedules of some programs, setting priorities for implementing initiatives, and enabling changes in legislative policies.

The third axis is the transfer of the initiatives of the programs: “strengthening the national character”, “leading national companies” and “strategic partnerships” to the programs and associated entities, after the programs have achieved most of their objectives in the first five years of the vision, and the need to preserve their independence in The next stage.

The next phase of the Kingdom's Vision 2030 is marked by the continued development of promising and new sectors, and the advancement of achievement in the implementation of the vision realization programs. To contribute to promoting economic growth and supporting local content; To increase its contribution to the economic development in the Kingdom, facilitate the business environment, in addition to further strengthening the role of the citizen and the private sector in achieving the vision, through more empowerment to employ capabilities and invest the potentials to achieve more success and progress.