The Founding Day: long-term development that began three centuries ago

Fahad Alarjani

@fahadnalarjani

On February 22, we all celebrated our national day and invited the entire world to learn about the Kingdom’s three-century history. We saw hashtags like #Founding_Day, #Day_We_Started, and “When_We_Started” being posted and retweeted by social media sites just before the launch of the first Founding Day celebrations.

However, two or more centuries earlier, there were signs that a state with moral roots, community acceptance, and economic movement could brighten up. In 1446, Maneh Rabi’a Al-Maridi founded the town of Diriyah and ruled it alongside his sons and grandchildren. Later, Diriyah grew into an important regional commercial and social hub, thanks to its strategic location at the crossroads of religious and commercial journeys between Iraq, the Gulf, and the Levantine to Hejaz Region and the Arabian Peninsula. It evolved into a hub connecting its surrounding areas.

An emerging city, Diriyah was transformed into the capital of a vast country after Imam Mohammed bin Saud founded the first Saudi state. Diriyah made it despite all the challenges it faced from abroad in a time of colonial revolutions around the world, which often mismanaged most countries’ natural resources. The City policies for drawing the future and achieving sustainable development, including supply chain and resource management, were designed and developed.

The Kingdom proved to the world that it was founded on solid foundations in preserving natural resources and national production and contributing to making the country the most attractive hub in the region, historically speaking. The Kingdom attracts and employs human capital and provides them with an environment helping them work, learn, and train within the country and bring economic benefit to all the Middle East and Central Asia nations.

The Kingdom’s vision 2030 has strengthened the concepts of sustainable development for all, not only in the Kingdom but also at the regional level. It tells us that the country has been built solid foundations for centuries and that development will continue as long as we take pride in our history and work with dedication and devotion to forge a future led by our nation’s bright and innovative minds in various fields. Every year we will commemorate our great heritage with the Founding Day celebrations.

Fahad Alarjani

PhD Scholar in Sustainable Entrepreneurship, Xi’an Jiaotong University

Head of Entrepreneurship Committee and Board Executive Member

Saudi Chinese Business Council