Saudi official: Partnership with US resilient, more intelligence sharing on Yemen desired

Prince Faisal bin Farhan al-Saud

WASHINGTON: Following a boost in US-Saudi meetings and ahead of President Donald Trump’s visit to the Kingdom next week, the Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington hosted a one-day conference on Wednesday keynoted by Saudi government foreign policy adviser Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al-Saud.
Prince Faisal, who was recently appointed as a high-ranking adviser to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, candidly opened his remarks by acknowledging that the “Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has a good story to tell even if we have often not been effective at telling it.”
One aspect of the story that he told to an audience of US experts and investors gathered in the Knight Conference Center at the Newseum centered around Vision 2030, which“established a direction of travel for the Kingdom toward a path to sustainable prosperity for the people of Saudi Arabia.
“Today, one year into our journey, we have a better grasp of the challenges and opportunities we will face,” he said.
Prince Faisal added: “The vision’s commitment to a set of measurable and clearly defined goals, specific accountability mechanisms and relevant stakeholders for each objective have been identified.”
He also highlighted key goals to “diversify our economy, triple non-oil revenue to $141 billion by 2020 and create 450,000 new non-governmental jobs.”
Social programs are also a critical part of the plan, according to the Saudi official.
“We intend to empower women to play a more prominent role by increasing women’s participation in the workforce from 22 to 30 percent, among other goals,” he said, before stressing the progress already made on women’s empowerment.
“While 10 years ago, seeing women participating in government meetings was uncommon, today, when I go to meetings at government agencies, I’m more likely than not to see several women participating in the decision-making process.”
Boosting tourism and attracting investment is also big part of the way forward, he said, and Saudi Arabia’s strategy is to approach “policymakers and opinion leaders to support these initiatives and American businesses and investors, as well as those from China, Japan and other potential economic partners, to participate in them.”
He refused to call Vision 2030 “a program for economic reform,” framing it instead as “a true effort at national transformation to create a more vibrant society, thriving economy and an ambitious nation.”
The official also applauded “the resilient seven-decade-old US-Saudi partnership,” promising to take it “to new levels on investment and foreign policy.”
Answering a question on Yemen, Prince Faisal said Saudi Arabia seeks help on the issue of Iranian arms, more intelligence sharing and munitions that will cut collateral damage.
The hopeful Saudi view on relations was shared by Tim Lenderking, deputy assistant secretary of state for Arabian Gulf affairs in the Near East Bureau at the US Department of State. Lenderking, who served in Saudi Arabia in the past, said the “US looks at the GCC as a force multiplier.”
He noted the improved US-Saudi relations under President Trump and said “what you are seeing from the new administration is a more robust relationship with Saudi Arabia.”
The US official added that Washington “doesn’t want war with Iran; (it) wants Iran and Saudi (Arabia) to co-exist,” and called for a diplomatic vision between Iran and Washington.
The conference’s banner, “Saudi Transforming,” engaged Saudi journalists and activists as well. Ahmed Omran, a journalist, said the “government does pay attention to what the religious establishment thinks but they do not always follow their advice.”
Meanwhile, Lina K. Almaeena, a member of the Shoura Council of Saudi Arabia, said: “The religious institution is a thing of the past.”
The conference followed a series of visits by Saudi delegations to Washington ahead of a highly anticipated Trump visit to the Kingdom, marking the US president’s first foreign trip.