Saudi Arabia revises priorities, projects on track: Minister

Faisal Alibrahim, Minister of Economy and Planning

Most of Saudi Arabia’s growth in the last few years was driven by newly-created economic sectors in line with Vision 2030, such as sports, entertainment, and tourism, in addition to industrial sectors, Faisal Alibrahim, Minister of Economy and Planning, said.

In a press conference held today to announce the events of the World Economic Forum Special Meeting on Global Collaboration, Growth and Energy for Development, the minister added that the Kingdom revises all its priorities to suit its needs. Furthermore, all projects are progressing as scheduled, and everyone can visit the Kingdom to watch this progress.

Saudi Arabia has proven its ability to lead a sustainable and advanced model, with results showing that non-oil activities accounted for 50% of the GDP in 2023. “We are working to build a knowledge-based economy,” the minister added.

Saudi Vision 2030 is advancing rapidly, with the Kingdom's economy growing by 20% since 2016. Most of growth has been driven by new sectors initiated by the Kingdom from scratch at the beginning of the vision, and we will witness economic, industrial, and export growth in the medium term.

Regarding the WEF’s agenda, the Minister of Economy said that the global economy is witnessing slight improvement but suffers fragmentation, so demand is necessary. Reviving international cooperation is of great importance today, so the Kingdom is exerting its efforts to chart the path of cooperation with the international community.

During the meeting, ideas will be shared to address identity gaps at the development level, to kickstart growth, providing an opportunity to redefine development pathways in all countries and lay the groundwork for a new international cooperation. The efforts of the meeting in Riyadh can map out sustainable economic growth, with technology serving humanity worldwide, and we want to turn dialogue into action and speeches into results, and this meeting will have fundamental and decisive outcomes, Alibrahim noted.