Saudi Arabia on a new path

Talal Al-Harbi

Last Monday, Saudi Arabia unveiled an ambitious long-term economic plan to make the Kingdom less reliant on oil. The plan, titled “Saudi Vision 2030,” will be implemented over the coming 15 years with the aim to build a “prosperous and sustainable economic future.” In addition to regulatory, budget and policy changes, the planned economic diversification also involved selling about 5 percent of shares of the giant Aramco oil company, localizing industrial equipment sector, creating 90,000 jobs, raising the share of non-oil exports in gross domestic product from the current16 percent to 50 percent.
Other reforms include creation of the “largest sovereign wealth fund in the world,” building high-quality tourism attractions, lowering the rate of unemployment among the young population from 11.6 percent to 7 percent and increasing women quota in the work force to 30 percent.
Economic experts are busy analyzing prospects of implementing this plan especially when oil prices are at an all-time low.
The announcement took some observers by surprise. However, those who know the Kingdom and its leadership were not surprised at all. Since the day Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman ascended the throne, he has been busy taking decisive measures.
Bold and decisive, as one expert has described him, King Salman is determined to put the country on the right track by reengineering local institutions and councils, shaking the hierarchy of the executive power and asserting the Kingdom’s role as leader of the Arab and Muslim worlds.
The Saudi Vision 2030 is the brainchild of Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. While announcing the economic plan and during his interview with Al-Arabiya, his intellectual potential and economic know-how were crystal clear. Anthony Cordesman of the Center for Strategic and International Studies said, “He has a very good group of advisers and the plan is not a desperate but a deliberate preventive measure.”
It was clear that the deputy crown prince wasn’t gambling because the future of the whole nation is at stake. To those who are skeptical about the success of the plan, he has proved that he is not beating about the bush but in fact it was evident that he was fully confident when he said that the forefathers had run the country without oil and “we can live in 2020 without oil” and that the Kingdom has three points of strength: Its Arab and Muslim depth, its investment strength and its geographic location.
His interests were also clear: Improving quality of life for the Saudi citizens, promoting culture, entertainment and tourism, building museums and excavating ancient civilizations in the Arabian Peninsula.
He has also proved to be sensitive toward the poor as is evident from his statement, “It is unacceptable that power and water subsidies should go to the rich.”
To him, there are no exemptions: “Power and water tariffs will be applied to princes and ministers. Any subsidies will be for the disadvantaged and low-income people…”
This is an indication that the leadership is determined to fight the opportunists who were amassing wealth through corrupt means at the cost of the country’s economic security and its international reputation.