Saudi Arabia economic diversification: The Saudi economy attracts the world's attention!

Keywords:

• In 2016, Saudi Arabia announced its ambitious Vision 2030, which aims to achieve economic diversification away from the oil sector.
• For decades, oil accounted for 85-90% of Saudi Arabia's GDP, but this contribution has since dropped to less than 55%.
• Saudi Arabia is focusing on the tourism sector, which it seeks to become a contributor to the Saudi economy on a par with the oil sector in the year the vision is implemented.

Saudi Economy: From Oil to Economic Diversification:

Since the announcement of Saudi Vision 2030 in 2016, Saudi Arabia has accelerated its efforts to achieve highly ambitious goals, aiming to affirm its position as a regional power in various fields, away from its reliance on the traditional oil sector. 
Tourism is a key focus for Saudi Arabia, a sector that consequently requires attention to technological development, innovation, and infrastructure development. 
For decades, the Saudi economy was heavily dependent on oil, which accounted for between 85-90% of Saudi Arabia's GDP. 
However, this percentage has changed significantly since the announcement of the Saudi Vision 2030, with oil now accounting for less than 55% of Saudi GDP.

The Saudi Economy: Investment Destinations and Promising Projects:

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia offers a variety of investment destinations and mega-projects that attract various parties from around the world. 
In early May 2025, Saudi Arabia witnessed the signing of a partnership between Westfield, a global shopping mall specialist, and Cenomi Centers, listed on the Saudi Stock Exchange (Tadawul), with the aim of establishing world-class malls in three regions of Saudi Arabia over the coming years. 
This was before Saudi Arabia hosted US President Donald Trump on his first tour of the Middle East since returning to the White House in January 2025. 

Strategic Mega-Investments Driving Saudi Arabia’s Economic Diversification

Both Saudi and American leaders announced $600 billion in investments by the Kingdom in various sectors, most notably artificial intelligence. 
The announcement was made in the presence of heads of global companies, including Nvidia, Tesla, Oracle, and the defense sector, as well as a promising agreement between NASA and the Saudi Space Agency.
These investments underscore Saudi Arabia's ambition to implement its plan within the anticipated five years, in diverse fields that will attract investment from around the world.
In the field of tourism, Saudi Arabia is undertaking several projects, most notably:

• Transforming Diriyah into a global cultural, historical, and entertainment destination. This area is one of the largest megaprojects in Saudi Arabia, with an estimated investment of $63.2 billion, covering an area of 14 square kilometers.
• The NEOM city project, located on the Red Sea coast, covers an area of 26,500 square kilometers (the size of Massachusetts).
• The "Cube" project, a massive cubic-shaped building located in Riyadh, is scheduled to begin operations in 2030. It will be one of the world's most iconic buildings, with a capacity that could exceed 396,000 people. This reflects Saudi Arabia's interest in technology, as artificial intelligence will dominate its operations.

Saudi Arabia is also making tremendous efforts in infrastructure, particularly since the NEOM project requires a massive effort to develop infrastructure that is compatible with digitization and advanced technology.
Saudi Arabia has extended 500 kilometers of fiber optics, in addition to working to build data centers, energy infrastructure, solar-powered facilities, and wind farms.

Conclusion:

With these and other ambitious projects, Saudi Arabia is accelerating its efforts to achieve its Vision 2030, achieving economic diversification away from the oil sector and ensuring that the tourism sector becomes as significant a contributor as the oil sector. This is due to the potential for increased revenues, increased job opportunities, and infrastructure development that will serve other economic sectors.