AN EVALUATION OF THE CHALLENGES ADRESSED BY THE SAUDI VISION 2030
Abstract
The strategic plan adopted by the Saudi Arabia government, commonly known as the
Vision 2030 is a response, among other challenges, to two significant economic issues
namely the underemployment and underutilisation of the Saudi labour force, especially
youths and women; and the overreliance of the national economy on a single income
which is revenues from oil (Robson et al., 2016). On 25 April 2016, Mohammed bin
Salman, the son of Saudi Arabia’s King Salman and Saudi Arabia's Deputy Crown
Prince announced the Vision 2030, making the King and the Crown Prince the two key
players central to the Vision 2030.
Currently, the national infrastructure in Saudi Arabia is not adequate to promote the
growth required and recommended by the Vision 2030. The government of Saudi
Arabia has tasked the private sector to contribute to the economy and overcome
problems of job creation and diversification. Among other issues, the government aims
to increase the contribution to the gross domestic product by small and medium sized
companies by 15% by 2030 (Nurunnabi, 2017). The Vision aims to
“partner with the private sector to develop the telecommunications and information
technology infrastructure” And “also support local investments in the
telecommunications and information technology sectors.” (Saudi Vision 2030, pp. 57).The primary reason for adopting this development policy focused on government
intervention to redistribute large oil revenues and address market failures, although a
very complex process, was to build the economy to promote political and social
stability (Yousef 2004). For the United Arab Emirates, just like other countries Middle
East countries exporting oil, another driver for government policy intervention was the
promotion of the emerging private sector (Schiliro, 2013). The strategy adopted in the
UAE subsequently inspired large investment by big industrial players to develop the
economy’s productive base and diversify the state’s revenue streams (Masood and
Sergi 2008). Competitive labour and energy costs, political stability, facilitation of
industrial activities and increased number of businesses in the private sector has been
the result of such a development policy (Schiliro, 2013).While the Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman has to date been successful in
convincing some of the religious clerics regarding the transformation plan for the
Kingdom, the extent to which the clerics will keep in line with the Crown Prince’s
modernisation plans remains uncertain. With the clerics being well recognised for their
anti-women stance and their inflexible attempts to keep women out of the public
sphere and considering how a significant part of the Vision 2030 focuses on gender
equality, the degree to which the clerics will unquestionably submit, and the impact of
their response should they respond to the Crown Prince’s reforms, remains unclear.
This investigation therefore seeks to address the following research question:
“what are the political challenges that the Saudi Vision 2030 aims to respond
to?”
In addressing the above research question, this investigation will analyse the strengths
and weaknesses within the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s political economy. An
investigation into the cultural forces at play within the Kingdom and their impact on
economic development. The study will evaluate how the political economy is
associated with the capacity of the state to adopt and fully implement social, political,
legal and economic reforms and how all these factors are interrelated in determining
the future of the Saudi Arabia. The study will also analyse the Kingdom’s foreign policy
and its role in the development of the economy.