RIYADH: Saudi Arabia has “a lot to offer” global players in the artificial intelligence sector looking to set up shop in the Kingdom, a top minister has insisted.
Speaking during the World Economic Forum’s 15th Annual Meeting of the New Champions, also known as the Summer Davos, which opened in northeast China’s coastal city of Dalian on June 25, Faisal Al-Ibrahim, Saudi Arabia’s minister of economy and planning, affirmed that Saudi Arabia is focused on ensuring that the global transition toward these emerging technologies occurs equitably.
The Kingdom is making significant strides in the world of artificial intelligence in pursuit of its ambitious initiatives to position Saudi Arabia as a global leader in the field.
The National Strategy for Data and Artificial Intelligence, launched in 2020, is a cornerstone of these efforts, seeking to attract $20 billion in investments by 2030 and cultivate a workforce of 20,000 AI and data specialists.
“One thing we’re really keen on and we’ve been working with the forum recently on is global governance. The Kingdom recently joined the artificial intelligence governance alliance, we specifically launched an inclusivity initiative,” he said.
Highlighting the role that AI can play in either easing or alleviating global disparities, he added: “If AI isn’t going to be accessible by developing cultures or the whole world all together, the gap we have is from an economic point of view, from a capability point of view.
“Institutional capabilities are the reasons why economies become more complex, the reason why countries perform better, one of the main reasons, and if AI comes in and isn’t really accessible by everyone, then that is really a big challenge and can even exacerbate the challenges we live in.”
Featuring the theme “Next Frontiers for Growth,” the event, held from June 25 to 27, is gathering some 1,600 leading figures from the public and private sectors across nearly 80 countries and regions to jointly explore new drivers and pathways for global economic growth.
This year’s forum covers multiple key pillars, including “A New Global Economy, China and the World,” “Entrepreneurship in the Age of AI,” and “New Frontiers for Industries,” as well as “Investing in People,” and “Connecting Climate, Nature and Energy.”
In a dialogue session entitled “What do we expect from future growth?” Al-Ibrahim discussed the rapid growth of non-oil activities in Saudi Arabia since the launch of Vision 2030.
He said: “The Kingdom achieved the fastest economic growth rate for the year 2022 at 8.7 percent, and non-oil activities achieved 5.6 percent, and even today, the growth of non-oil activities remains strong, as non-oil activity constitutes 51 percent of the real gross domestic product. The Kingdom’s non-oil economy is larger than its oil economy.”
At the conclusion of his participation, the minister stressed the necessity of developing a comprehensive and integrated approach to addressing worldwide economic challenges, noting that by adopting international cooperation, innovation, and comprehensive solutions, the global community can effectively address some of these obstacles and mitigate their severity.
