The British ambassador is right

 The British ambassador is right

Abdullah Al Alami*

May 29, 2024

 

Saudi Arabia’s total non-oil exports reached 277 billion riyals. This is a good indicator as the Kingdom continues its economic diversification efforts so that non-oil activities will contribute 50% to the country’s real GDP in 2030.

Let me provide a few examples. Saudi Aramco, one of the world's leading integrated companies in the field of energy and chemicals, signed an agreement with Pascal, the global leader in neutral atomic quantum computing, to install the first quantum computer in the Kingdom.

How does oil fit in all this? Experts believe the Kingdom would reach about 750 billion riyals in non-oil commodity exports by 2030, and probably exceed one trillion riyals by 2035. Furthermore, the Saudi economy has achieved more promising results as Riyadh succeeded in its non-oil wealth, such as gold, copper, phosphate, and other minerals, which amounted to 9.4 trillion riyals.

Neil Crompton, the British Ambassador to Saudi Arabia, revealed that the Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF) invested 21 billion pounds sterling (about 100 billion riyals) in the United Kingdom during the past four years. These investments were allocated to infrastructure and advanced technology.

His Excellency the Ambassador is right, the Saudi economy has achieved remarkable gains in foreign direct investment reaching 2.4% as a percentage of the gross domestic product in 2023. Also, Saudi Arabia has attracted about 200 international companies who plan to move their regional headquarters to Riyadh. The incentives are clear; the value of the Public Investment Fund managed assets reached 2.81 trillion riyals during 2023. Furthermore, Riyadh is keen to target about 36 thousand factories by 2030 and to finance small and medium enterprises with about 10 billion riyals.

In short, Saudi Arabia has achieved several major gains that contributed to enhancing opportunities for Saudi youth in preparation for the post-vision phase. I hope His Excellency the British Ambassador will also convey the message that Saudis are qualified with the latest specializations and modern programs to add qualitative value to the Saudi economy, along with knowledge and technological intelligence in preparation for the upcoming challenges.

 

*Saudi writer