What Has Saudi Arabia's Vision 2030 Achieved So Far?

Saudi Vision 2030, conceived and sponsored by Crown Prince and Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Mohammed bin Salman, has been marketed as a complete transformation in today's world. The vision's blueprint was released in April 2016. It addresses all aspects of life, including privatization, diversifying incomes by increasing non-oil revenues, reducing government support, inviting local and foreign investors to the country, restructuring government services, and going public with some large enterprises.

Vision 2030 began by addressing people's efficiency and Saudi national unemployment. Saudi Arabia is still trying to close these two gaps quickly, despite a dual labor market in which Saudi citizens work in higher-paying public jobs and non-Saudis work in the private sector. As a result, one of the critical issues adopted by the vision is youth unemployment, which will be addressed in part by expanding the country's manufacturing base and privatizing the healthcare and aviation sectors, to name a few. Vision 2030 aims to allow foreign retailers to open wholly owned subsidiaries to create more than one million new jobs. The vision envisions transforming the kingdom into a productivity-led economic system with greater diversity, global integration, and private-sector concentration. Furthermore, many critical reforms are taking place to modernize the laws to impact and strengthen women’s role, assist social transformation in terms of quality of life, and adjust national identity by focusing on culture, tradition, and art. Tourism was given unrestricted funding, assistance, and development. Several initiatives, such as e-visas, the launch of touristic decrees and guidelines, and the marketing of touristic and archaeological sites, made life easier for tourists. Saudi Arabia has also begun massive projects, such as NEOM, the Red Sea, the Diriyah Gate, and many others, as tangible examples of the country's sustainability, environmental friendliness, and intelligent city capability. Finally, the vision began to improve the quality of life by providing new opportunities for citizens to engage in entertainment activities by opening numerous cinemas and hosting international events.

Vision 2030 represented a daring new way of tackling the Kingdom's socioeconomic challenges, unsustainability, and external pressures. Historically, the Kingdom's economy relied heavily on oil resources; however, by reorganizing public spending and launching a competitive economy, the country's vision quickly transformed long-term norms by accurately implementing Kotter's change management steps. The reform affected almost everyone, including ministries, committees, entities, courts, and individuals. The realization of any transformation depends on people's adoption rate because nothing can happen unless people embrace change. People's quick acceptance was the most significant success for vision 2030. The widespread approval of the vision allowed the sponsors, policymakers, change architects, agents, and champions to overcome structural inertia, increasing the chances of anchoring previous victories and moving forward.