A group of experts and academic economists from Saudi universities and national institutions agreed on the importance of diversifying sources of income and expanding the base of the Saudi economy.
They stressed the need for economic planning to address the situation through adopting strategies and proposing clear and applicable policies while staying away from the sudden and emotional decisions.
They also pointed out that this should be done based on the reality of the economic situation in the country that has been recessed for many years as a result of the low oil prices and fluctuations in the market for this commodity, and the only resource on which Saudi Arabia relies on for revenues.
The attendees stressed the need to tackle the structural imbalance caused by the relying nature of this economy by diversifying the economic base and reducing dependence on oil.
They pointed out that the developments and measures taken by the Saudi government to launch the national transformation program in the context of Kingdom vision 2030 seek achieving the goal of diversifying income sources, expanding national economic base and reducing reliance on production and export of oil.
These will also have some effects on the economic situation in the short and medium term, with hopes that vision programs succeed in the development of long-term strategic plans that stimulate the various economic sectors to reach the maximum possible in light of a free economic system.
These proposals were submitted by experts and academics during the Prince Abdulrahman bin Ahmed al-Sudairy’s Forum for Saudi Studies in its 11th session, which was dedicated for discussing the Saudi economic situation.
The forum was held on Saturday in Dar al-Rahmaniah in Ghat governorate, in which ideas and proposals were submitted in a dialogue that was presented in papers by speakers specialized in public participation away from the scientific terms that are incomprehensible for the non-specialists in this area.
The forum seeks coming out with visions that would serve its purpose and proposals that would help using the ideas to serve the economy of the country, according to Managing Director of the Forum Dr. Ziad bin Abdulrahman al-Sudairy.
It recalled late Dr. Mahsoun Jalal, who was one of the country’s economic icons, and his proposals and famous idea on “cultivation of oil,” which, according to him, means transferring the revenues from the production of oil to the land or its stabilization in the land, ie cultivation.
Late Dr. Jalal also worked hard to shed light on the importance of diversifying sources of income and expanding economic base by also proposing the manufacturing option, considering it the best option for the Kingdom in the field of building the economic base and diversifying it.
