Five Years On, Saudi Arabia's Vision 2030 Notches Many Noteworthy Achievements

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 23 (Bernama) -- As Saudi Arabia celebrates its National Day Thursday, the Kingdom can look back proudly on the achievements it had made on Saudi's Vision 2030. Since the Vision 2030 was unveiled five years ago (2016), many noteworthy achievements have been accomplished to support the Kingdom's economic diversification objectives and build a prosperous future for the people. In an extensive article made available to Bernama in conjunction with Saudi's 91st National Day on Sept 23, the Media Affairs Department of Saudi Arabia's Embassy in Malaysia said that the Vision is a strategic framework to reduce Saudi Arabia's dependence on oil, its main export revenue, and diversify its economy, and develop public service sectors such as health, education, infrastructure, recreation and tourism. "During the past five years, the Kingdom has built a foundation in which unprecedented reforms were made in the public sector's operating model, the economy and society as a whole. This laid the foundations of success for the future. The Vision improves the effectiveness and response of the government, unlocks opportunities for growth and investment, opens Saudi to the world, builds and launches platforms for future growth, and increases citizens' quality of life which will benefit the Saudi nation," it said. Saudi Vision 2030 is a comprehensive national development plan that aims to transform the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia into a world-leading model by empowering its citizens to unleash their energies and capabilities and invest strengths to create a diversified and prosperous economy and build a vibrant society that enjoys a healthy life. Vision 2030, which stems from the strategic location, investment power and place of the Kingdom at the centre of Arab and Islamic worlds, was launched by Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed Salman Abdulaziz Al-Saud on April 25, 2016. However, the article also acknowledged that the Vision had faced many challenges – which led to the attainment of many experiences that has enhanced the confidence in achieving future goals. The Vision'’s programmes have achieved remarkable successes across the Vision's pillars, namely a vibrant society, a thriving economy and an ambitious nation. On a vibrant society, the pillar has progressed due to the adoption of healthy lifestyles and serving Hajj & Umrah pilgrims from all around the world, in addition to "embracing" the Kingdom's archaeological sites and getting them inscribed on UNESCO's World Heritage List. On a thriving economy, the pillar has achieved the 2030 target for women's participation in the workforce in 2020. Additionally, the Public Investment Fund assets have grown significantly, and the contribution of Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) has increased. On an ambitious nation, the pillar has progressed in the two strategic objectives – "Effectively Governed" and "Responsibly Enabled" – as non-oil revenues increased significantly in 2020 and the number of volunteers doubled annually to reach 409,000 volunteers in 2020. In the housing sector, the percentage of homeownership increased to 60 per cent compared to 47 per cent five years ago. In education, the number of universities and colleges has reached 63 while published scientific research reached 33,588 compared to 15,056 in previous years – an increase of 223 per cent. The health sector has received significant attention in the Kingdom's Vision 2030 where several achievements have been made to improve the efficiency of systems, increase the absorptive capacities of health facilities, and develop several electronic services. Touching on Hajj and Umrah, the article noted the Vision's success in increasing the Kingdom's capacity to receive and accommodate pilgrims to the holy sites by expanding the system of services at the Two Holy Mosques and the holy sites, in addition to automating the process of obtaining an Umrah visa within only 5 minutes, which previously took 14 days. This is in addition to the issuance of the "Electronic Tourist Visa" that can be obtained electronically within minutes. "This has made it easier to visit tourist destinations and monuments in the Kingdom and has contributed to revitalising the tourism sector and raising its contribution to the GDP while developing various tourist destinations and creating job opportunities. The Kingdom's tourism sector has become the fastest-growing sector globally, with a growth of 14 per cent," it said. The Vision's programmes have improved the quality of life in the Kingdom via attracting and organising several world-famous sporting events. In addition, it also highlighted sports, cultural and volunteer events which attracted more than 46 million visitors through 2020. The number of companies operating in the entertainment sector has doubled, reaching more than 1,000 and generating more than 101,000 jobs by the end of 2020. The tourism sector is undergoing one of the most significant transformations that the world has ever seen. Saudi is encouraging private investments, significantly developing its existing and forthcoming attractions and introducing massive extensions to its transportation infrastructure. With capital investment for tourism set to rise to more than SAR 200 billion (US$54 billion) over the next 10 years, Saudi Arabia is expected to become a critical touristic destination by 2030. Saudi Arabia currently ranks among the top 20 countries globally in terms of total GDP contribution, with tourism contributing SAR 224 billion (US$59.7 billion) to the economy. This is expected to rise by 4.7 per cent per annum, to SAR 412 billion (US$110 billion), constituting 11.1 per cent of GDP by 2027. For the first time in its history, Saudi Arabia started issuing tourist visas in 2018. Through the fast and easy-to-use online portal, international visitors from 49 eligible countries, including Malaysia, can apply for an e-Visa Quarter. The e-Visa will be a one-year, multiple-entry visa, allowing tourists to spend up to 90 days in the country. It covers tourism-related activities and Umrah (excluding Hajj season) and excludes other activities such as studying. There has been growing interest in archaeological and heritage sites during the last five years, which directly impacted the registration of new Saudi sites in the World Heritage List of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO). The number of heritage sites that can be visited in the Kingdom in 2020 has risen to 354 sites, compared to 241 sites in 2017. The most critical Saudi heritage sites inscribed by UNESCO on the World Heritage List are the historic site of Addiriyah, Madain Saleh, and the rock art sites at Jabal Umm Sinman near the Hail region and Jeddah (Al-Balad), also known as 'the Gate to Makkah'. "In this regard, Crown Prince Muhammed Bin Salman has launched on September 6 2021, the Jeddah Historical Area Revival Project. The project comes out of the Crown Prince's keenness and interest in preserving, safeguarding, and rehabilitating historical sites to achieve the Kingdom's Vision 2030 objectives and reflect the Kingdom's Arab and Islamic depth as one of the essential pillars of the Vision," it said. A thriving economy is one of the main pillars in the Kingdom's Vision 2030, where it has set the goal to increase the size of its economy to become among the top 15 worldwide. Saudi Arabia also set the goal of diversifying its economy to raise non-oil exports in non-oil GDP from 16 per cent to 50 per cent. The last five years witnessed the growth of the non-oil GDP ratio to reach 59 per cent in 2020, compared to 55 per cent in 2016. Non-oil revenues also reached SR 369 billion (US$98.40 billion) in 2020 compared to SR 166 billion (US$44.26 billion) in 2015 – an increase of 222 per cent – while the number of factories increased by 38 per cent to 9,984 factories compared to 7,206 factories before the launching of the Vision. The Kingdom recognises the importance of the digital economy as an essential means to promote non-oil sectors. The Vision's initiatives propelled the Kingdom to first place in digital competitiveness at the level of the Group of Twenty (G20), achieving first place in the world in 5G Internet speed, and covering more than 60 per cent of major cities and 45 per cent of other cities by deploying more than 12,000 towers that support 5G technology. Furthermore, the Kingdom attracted the most significant technology investments in the Middle East and North Africa, with deals that exceeded SAR 6 billion (US$1.60 billion) in the cloud computing sector. Among others in this sector is the partnership between Google and Aramco, where the Kingdom was chosen as a regional centre for cloud computing operations and to build the largest centre for cloud computing in the Middle East and North Africa. The article pointed out that the Kingdom has manufactured the first smart chips with purely Saudi expertise and have been used in military, commercial and civilian applications. The article also highlighted the Vision's main projects – NEOM City Project and THE LINE. The "NEOM" project represents the world's most ambitious and sustainable future system for living and working and the city is part of the Saudi Vision 2030 project, while THE LINE is a never-before-seen approach to urbanisation – a 170km-long linear urban development. THE LINE will reshape the traditional concept of urban life, enabling NEOM to become an economic engine for Saudi Arabia, the region and the world. THE LINE will create 380,000 new jobs, spur economic diversification and contribute SAR 180 billion (US$48 billion) to domestic GDP by 2030. Besides that, there is also The Red Sea Project – a tourism project extending over 200 km on the Red Sea coast from the Saudi side. The project includes an archipelago that contains more than 90 islands, where only 22 islands will be exploited while the remaining islands will be left untouched. The project is expected to create 70,000 job opportunities and contribute SAR 22 billion (US$5.866 billion) of GDP. Among related developments are the Red Sea Airport – an international airport under construction, planned for opening in 2022 and dedicated to serving the Red Sea project, and also a yacht marina. As Riyadh will host the 2034 Asian Games for the first time, Qiddiya will be one of the significant hubs during the Games, where Qiddiya Sports Complex will host most of the sports for this tournament. There is also the King Abdullah Financial District in Riyadh (KAFD), a US$10-billion project, with plans to transform it into a 'city within a city’, a financial hub that acts as a high-end residential and lifestyle destination. The article also mentioned the Saudi Green Initiative and the Middle East Green Initiative – two initiatives that are to be launched soon – which aims to chart a path for the Kingdom and the region in protecting the planet by clearly defining an ambitious road map that rallies the region and significantly contributes to achieving global targets in confronting climate change. At the national level, the Crown Prince had said that the Kingdom would work through the Saudi Green Initiative to raise vegetation cover, reduce carbon emissions, combat pollution and land degradation, and preserve marine life. It has several ambitious initiatives, most notably the planting of 10 billion trees within the Kingdom in the upcoming decades, which is the equivalent to rehabilitating roughly 40 million hectares of degraded lands. On another note, regarding the Middle East Green Initiative, the Crown Prince had said that the Kingdom will start working on this initiative in coordination with neighbouring and sister countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states and Middle Eastern countries to plant 40 billion trees in the Middle East. The Crown Prince highlighted that these two initiatives are a continuation of the environmental efforts in the Kingdom over the past few years in line with Vision 2030. "The 2030 vision begin a new phase on the road to continued transformation. What has been achieved, and what we seek to achieve, are the fruits of the continuous hard work by Saudi citizens, partnerships with the private and third sectors, which work in harmony to elevate the country's position in the developing world," the article further said. -- BERNAMA