Country Profile

Home to an estimated 15.7% of the world’s proven oil reserves and the single largest economy in the MENA region, Saudi Arabia is a key player not only in the region but also globally. Since the establishment of Saudi Arabia in September 1932, the Kingdom has poured its considerable resources into a series of large-scale economic development, diversification and modernisation initiatives. 2016 witnessed the unveiling of Vision 2030 which calls for major overhaul of the national economy and designed to pave the way for the reorientation of the Kingdom’s economy away from hydrocarbons powered, state-spurred growth, to a more diversified, private-sector led economic model.

This chapter contains viewpoints from Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, Chairman of the Council of Economic and Development Affairs; and Xi Jinping, President of the People’s Republic of China; and interviews with Prince Khalid bin Faisal Al Saud, Governor, Makkah Region; and Prince Faisal bin Bandar, Governor, Riyadh Region and Chairman of the High Commission for the Development of Arriyadh.