Crown Prince Lists Achievements of Vision 2030 in 5 Years

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman during his televised interview. (Reuters)
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman during his televised interview. (Reuters)
TT
20

Crown Prince Lists Achievements of Vision 2030 in 5 Years

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman during his televised interview. (Reuters)
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman during his televised interview. (Reuters)

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defense, listed on Tuesday the achievements of the Kingdom’s Vision 2030, saying so much has been accomplished in five years.

In an interview aired on Saudi TV to mark the fifth anniversary of the Vision, he said that the greatest challenge was housing.

“We had a housing problem for 20 years that we could not resolve, and citizens were waiting nearly 15 years to receive a loan or a housing subsidy,” he said, noting that the level of housing was always between 40-50 percent and before the Vision it was 47 percent.

“During the reign of King Abdullah about 250 billion riyals were allocated in 2011. In 2015, out of these 250 billion, only 2 billion were disbursed and it was not utilized, and the Ministry of Housing could not transfer them into existing projects because the state was quite weak,” he said, explaining that ministries were “scattered” and no public policy existed.

The Ministry of Housing could not succeed without a general policy for the state in coordination with the municipalities, the Central Bank the Ministry of Finance.

“So, these 250 billion were returned back to the treasury and an annual budget was disbursed but the outcome was that the percentage of housing increased from 47 percent to 60 percent within four years only and this is quite an indicator showing where we are heading,” Crown Prince Mohammed added.

In the fourth quarter in 2019 the non-oil economy grew about 4.5 percent, he noted. “If it weren’t for the pandemic in 2020, it would have exceeded 5 percent in the non-oil sector. We will return to those levels hopefully this year, the coming years and even more in the future.”

Unemployment at the beginning of the Vision was about 14 percent in the first quarter of 2020, he remarked, stressing that the aim is to reach 11 percent in 2021.

“I don’t want any Saudi to be without a job. We are in the forefront … in Q4 of 2020 we sat at 12 percent now. This year we will break the 11 percent barrier, and I think that the Vision’s target of 7 percent will be achieved way before that,” declared Crown Prince Mohammed.

“Once we achieve normal unemployment rates between 4 to 7 percent, which is a normal rate, we will want to work on the next step, which is improving jobs and job opportunities and increasing the income of the 50 percent holding poor jobs,” he continued.

“You will not be able to improve jobs until you improve the working force.”

He stated that commercial license used to take days to be issued, now it can be done in half an hour through an online process. Foreign investments have tripled up to 17 million a year.

“The Saudi market was stuck after the last crisis between 4,000 points to 7,000 points. Now we exceeded 10,000, which means that the private sector has started to grow,” continued Crown Prince Mohammed.

“If we have an opportunity, we should grab it whether it’s 10, 100, 1,000, or tens of thousands of opportunities. We will develop our human resources and abilities of the government to achieve these opportunities,” he said. “This will all open new horizons.”

He stressed that the Kingdom was surpassing its objective before the deadline set by the Vision.

He cited housing as an example. “For housing, the objective is 60 percent. We did reach 60 percent in 2020. So, 62 percent should be reached before 2025. So, we have gone beyond the said objectives.”

He noted that the Public Investment Fund sought a size of 7 trillion riyals in 2020. “We are going to amend it to 10 trillion riyals in 2030.”

“Numbers that we thought were huge and unachievable have been partially met in 2020 and we will break even more numbers in 2025, which means that we will achieve even higher numbers in 2030,” he continued.

“We started establishing strategic policies and commissions under my chair to translate the Vision covering every sector – housing, energy, industry, quality of life etc. and other strategies.”

“We have sought to establish the Budgeting Bureau, which aims to draft the state budget so that it would not be restricted to the Finance Ministry,” he continued.

The financial commission has been established that meets regularly to align the budget and we’re about to finish with the Policies Office,” revealed Crown Prince Mohammed.

“There is a wrongful perception that Saudi Arabia would like to dispose of the oil. Not at all. We want to exploit everything whether the oil sector or other sectors,” he went on to say.

“We want to increase the benefit we reap from the oil to manufacturing industries and others and then to produce other opportunities away from the oil sector to diversify our economy.”



Saudi Business and Job Growth Hit 14-Year High

Riyadh, Saudi Arabia (AFP)
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia (AFP)
TT
20

Saudi Business and Job Growth Hit 14-Year High

Riyadh, Saudi Arabia (AFP)
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia (AFP)

Business conditions in Saudi Arabia’s non-oil private sector improved notably in June, driven by a marked rise in customer demand and expanded production, according to the latest Riyad Bank Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) data.

New business volumes surged, fueling the fastest pace of employment growth since May 2011. This strong demand for workers pushed wage costs to record highs, adding pressure on overall expenses and contributing to a fresh increase in output prices.

The headline PMI climbed to 57.2 in June from 55.8 in May - its highest level in three months and slightly above the long-term average of 56.9. The reading signaled a robust improvement in the health of the non-oil private sector economy.

Companies reported another rise in new orders last month, with growth accelerating following a recent low in April. Many firms cited gaining new clients, alongside improved marketing efforts and stronger demand conditions. Domestic sales were the main driver of the increase, while export sales edged up slightly.

Purchasing Activity Expands

Production continued to expand through the end of Q2, although growth slowed to a 10-month low. Purchasing activity picked up sharply as companies sought to secure additional inputs to meet rising demand, with the pace of purchase growth reaching its fastest in two years.

Employment growth accelerated as businesses rapidly expanded their workforce to keep pace with incoming orders, pushing hiring to the highest level since mid-2011. This strong recruitment trend, which began early in 2025, was largely driven by a rising need for skilled workers, prompting companies to increase salary offers. Consequently, overall wage costs rose at the fastest rate since the PMI survey started in 2009.

Facing mounting cost pressures from higher raw material prices, firms raised their selling prices sharply in June , the biggest increase since late 2023, reversing declines recorded in two of the previous three months. This price hike largely reflected the passing of higher operating costs onto customers, although some companies opted for competitive pricing strategies by cutting prices.

Resilient Economic Outlook

Looking ahead, non-oil private sector firms remained confident about business activity over the next 12 months. Optimism hit a two-year high, supported by resilient domestic economic conditions, strong demand, and improved sales. Supply-side conditions also showed positive momentum, with another strong improvement in supplier performance.

Dr. Naif Alghaith, Chief Economist at Riyad Bank, said: “Future expectations among non-oil companies remain very positive. Business confidence reached its highest level in two years, underpinned by strong order inflows and improving local economic conditions.”

He added: “However, cost pressures became more pronounced in June, with wage growth hitting record levels as companies compete to retain talent. Purchasing prices also rose at the fastest pace since February, partly driven by increased demand and geopolitical risks. Despite these challenges, companies broadly raised selling prices to recover from May’s declines, reflecting an improved ability to pass higher costs onto customers.”