The greatest transformation in the history of Saudi Arabia is taking place under difficult conditions.
The “Vision 2030”, which today's Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman presented in April 2016, is intended to make the kingdom independent of oil in a few years.
Because Saudi Arabia can no longer rely on the income from oil exports.
The demand for crude oil will decline by almost a fifth by 2030, and by three quarters by 2050, predicts the International Energy Agency (IEA).
Rainer Hermann
Editor in politics.
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With the pandemic, the kingdom is losing valuable time.
Because the government has shut down life severely for months.
She stepped on the brakes when the seven-day incidence exceeded 90 in June 2020.
Nationwide lockdowns and the restrictions on pilgrimage to Mecca lowered them to just two at the beginning of the year.
It is currently stabilizing at 20. The 35 million inhabitants were inoculated only twelve million doses.
Nevertheless, the government has been gradually reducing the restrictions since April.
Women and young people hope
Saudi Arabia is already benefiting from the “Vision 2030” in the current fight against the pandemic. Because their strategic goals include digitizing the country and creating a strong digital infrastructure, including in the healthcare sector. The transformation of the country should go far beyond that. The focus is on creating an economy that is independent of crude oil, and social change and environmental protection are more than just flanking goals. Even if there is still a long way to go, there is progress in all areas.
In just a few years, the very restrictive social norms were softened, which is of particular benefit to women and youth. Measures to protect the environment are no longer just in high-gloss projects, but become reality. Last month, the second largest photovoltaic system in the kingdom, with a capacity of 300 megawatts, went into operation near the Sakaka oasis. This is another step towards generating half of all electricity from renewable sources by 2030. Projects have started to recycle 94 percent of the waste and a huge reforestation plan.
On the fifth anniversary of the presentation of the vision, Muhammad Bin Salman described the approach in a long television interview as having no alternative. The number of Saudis has increased tenfold since the discovery of oil, he said. The oil revenues were therefore no longer sufficient to guarantee the quality of life to which the Saudis would have become accustomed. It is not just the pandemic that slows the crown prince and the young technocrats around him. The loss of reputation caused by the repression in the kingdom and the murder of the Saudi dissident Jamal Khashoggi in the Saudi consulate general in Istanbul in 2018 also had a negative impact.