Saudi Arabia plans to revise Vision 2030 strategy, finance minister says

Saudi Arabia plans to release an amended Vision 2030 programme, signalling that the kingdom is officially moving away from grandiose megaprojects towards traditional industry, where it hopes to gain a competitive advantage.

Saudi Arabia’s finance minister, Mohammed al-Jadaan, told Bloomberg on Monday that the country wants to communicate its updated strategy. He said tourism, manufacturing, logistics, and technology will receive greater focus, but did not specify when the strategy would be released.

The reality is that Saudi Arabia has already pivoted from the original plans of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s effort to reduce the kingdom's reliance on oil revenue.

Big-ticket projects initially linked to Vision 2030 have been scaled back or cancelled.

Neom, a Red Sea development with luxury beach hotels, a ski resort, and a 170km-long, futuristic city called "The Line”, is being redesigned and substantially downsized, the Financial Times reported. 

Reuters reported in January that Saudi Arabia had suspended construction of the Mukaab, a giant cube-shaped structure planned for downtown Riyadh. Saudi authorities also announced that Trojena, the planned ski resort in Neom, was being downsized and would no longer host the 2029 Asian Winter Games.

Jadaan himself said that the kingdom has “no ego” to prevent it from cancelling mega-projects.

“If we announce something and we need to adjust it, accelerate it and make it a priority more than others, or defer or cancel it, we will without blinking,” he said in December.

Saudi Arabia is pushing ahead with plans to wean its economy off a reliance on oil wealth by focusing on sectors where it has a competitive advantage.

Mecca development and AI push

Humain, a technology company owned by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, received its first batch of Nvidia's most advanced artificial intelligence chips in December. AI has emerged as one of the new focal points of Vision 2030.

At a time when energy prices in the US are rising because of data centres, Saudi Arabia is pitching itself as a destination, with plentiful, cheap energy thanks to its fossil fuel dominance. Electricity prices in Saudi Arabia are anywhere from 30 to 50 percent cheaper than the global average, experts say. 

Saudi Arabia's unbeatable AI pitch? Having oil and gas to burn

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Neom has always had a tourism focus, and the kingdom introduced new laws in January to allow foreigners to buy property.

But it also appears to be focusing on its credentials as the pilgrimage site for the world’s Muslim population.

The kingdom is further commercialising the area outside the Grand Mosque in Mecca, with construction of tall towers for the purpose of prayer, accommodation and hospitality. The development is named “King Salman Gate”.

Saudi Arabia is also trying to position itself as a manufacturing hub, particularly for products based on petrochemicals, but also for domestic use.

Saudi electric vehicle brand Ceer has signed 16 deals worth roughly $1bn to localise electric vehicle manufacturing inside the country, Saudi state news agency SPA reported on Monday.

Saudi Arabia has been pressuring companies seeking to do business in the kingdom to invest in or base their headquarters in the country. Ceer is a joint venture between Saudi's sovereign wealth fund and Taiwanese manufacturer Foxconn.