Saudi Arabia Vision 2030: Policy promises much, but core aims will be hard to achieve

Saudi Arabia Vision 2030: Policy promises much, but core aims will be hard to achieve

Summary

Saudi Arabia has attempted to wean the economy of being heavily reliant on oil for a while. Previous iterations of economic reform have come and gone, yet there has been little progress to report.

Now, however, the Vision 2030 strategy (originally announced in 2016) is being enacted in what is an extremely ambitious attempt at not only creating a sizable non-oil based economy but shifting the country from being mainly public sector to private sector. Vast sums of money are being invested and big social changes are taking place. However, major problems must be overcome for success to be attained.

Key Highlights

- So far the state has survived on oil revenue, but even vast oil reserves have proven insufficient to cater for domestic state spending, or to solve the longstanding unemployment problem and reliance on cheap foreign labor.
- Expected domestic industry growth, expansion of foreign direct investment, and spread of privatization will place the country in a much better position to develop a thriving economy outside of oil.
- Saudi Arabia Vision 2030 aims to diversify the economy from an excessive reliance on oil, lifting the country from being the 19th largest in the world to lying in the top 15.

Scope

- Examines how the labor market is being transformed by Vision 2030.
- Looks at the problems with Vision 2030.
- Assesses if the strategy is too big to fail.
- Looks at the chances of Vision 2030 being successful.
- Examines the importance of tourism growth to the developing non-oil economy.

Reasons to buy

- What changes to the labor market are happening under Vision 2030?
- What economic problems does Saudi Arabia face?
- Will government reforms to the economy work?
- What problems does the Vision 2030 strategy contain?
- How will the non-oil economy develop under Vision 2030?