Saudi Arabia’s defence expenditure was the sixth highest worldwide in 2021, behind the US, China, India, Russia and the UK. The localisation of industry, and enhanced research and development (R&D) are core to Vision 2030, the government’s long-term blueprint for development. Given the defence sector’s traditional prominence in the annual budget, it is among the areas...
Vision 2030 was launched in 2016 with the aim of renewing the social contract between the long-ruling Al Saud family and various segments of society, as well as addressing fiscal imbalances resulting from a reliance on oil revenue, low labour force participation rates and generous social benefits.
In June 2022 the UK and the GCC officially launched negotiations for a comprehensive trade deal to reduce or remove tariffs on a series of goods and services. Anne-Marie Trevelyan, former UK secretary of trade, met with Nayef Falah Al Hajraf, the GCC secretary-general, and representatives from the six GCC countries: Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE.
As the world’s largest oil producer and the only Arab country in the G20, Saudi Arabia is a key geopolitical player on the global stage. Officially established in September 1932 the Kingdom has begun to pour its considerable financial resources into a series of large-scale economic development, diversification and modernisation initiatives in recent years. Saudi Arabia has...
Saudi Arabia has traditionally had low rates of female labour force participation, as legislative, social, educational and occupational constraints prevented women from fully taking part in the labour market. Vision 2030 – the Kingdom’s blueprint for socio-economic transformation – sought to create a society and economy in which women could play a much fuller role. As such,...
As oil prices reach recent highs, a number of countries in the Middle East have unveiled fiscal measures designed to balance their budgets after two years of Covid-19 pandemic-related spending. Bahrain is following this trend: in October 2021 it released a plan designed to balance the budget by 2024. In addition to doubling the value-added tax (VAT) rate to 10%, the plan...
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