The Middle East

Driving forward with reforms to modernise teaching, measure standards and improve spatial diversity by educating people in all corners of the Kingdom, Saudi Arabia is using technology to provide solutions and alternative ways of teaching and learning.

The newest manifestation of Saudi Arabia’s commitment to ensuring its young people have the skills to survive and thrive in a diversified knowledge economy is the Colleges of Excellence (CoE) programme. By August 2015, there were 37 CoE institutions offering free training and education to Saudi citizens across the Kingdom. Under the CoE model...

Some SR1.5trn ($399.75bn) was spent on education between 2005 and 2015 in Saudi Arabia under the rule of the late King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, a national newspaper calculated. Under his successor, King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, education looks set to remain a priority, with the creation of a knowledge economy stated as the third...

The rapid expansion of the health care system in Saudi Arabia has increased demand for health workers, from doctors and nurses to hospital administrators and pharmacists. As part of the Kingdom’s ongoing transformation into a knowledge-based economy, and with a view towards the sector’s long-term sustainability, the government is investing...

As part of efforts to make health care spending more efficient, the government is forging ahead with a number of digitisation initiatives under the banner of its electronic health, or e-health, programme. The need for such a strategy has been precipitated by a “perfect storm demanding continued transformation in health care”, according to...

Over the past decade, Saudi Arabia has successfully promoted the development of local pharmaceuticals manufacturing, with their share of the market rising from 14% to 18% between 2008 and 2012. Many of these companies started as sole importers and distributors of pharmaceuticals, and went on to develop their capabilities, in some cases by...