From Davos to Riyadh

By: Mohammed Hassan Mohammed Al-Naimi

For the first time in more than fifty years, the global economic community is moving from Davos to the heart of Riyadh, the capital, which is hosting the first global meeting of the World Economic Forum under the auspices of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

“It is the strongest summit outside Davos so far, “said Saudi Minister of Economy and Planning Faisal al-Ibrahim on the eve of this special meeting held under the theme” international cooperation, growth and energy for development”, which brings together more than a thousand world leaders from 92 countries with the aim of supporting global dialogue and finding practical and sustainable cooperative solutions to common global challenges.

The meeting will take place on April 28 and 29, 2024, at a time when geopolitical upheavals and complex economic challenges are destabilizing the divided world. Therefore, it aims to support global dialogue and find solutions to common global challenges. It will work according to an agenda aimed at strengthening forward-thinking methods in dealing with crises.

The meeting will promote a forward-looking approach to interconnected crises, based on the inaugural Growth Summit in Switzerland last year, be realistic about short-term trade-offs, and bridge the growing gap between North and south on issues such as emerging economic policies, energy transition, and geopolitical shocks.

This meeting comes 3 days after the issuance of the annual report of the kingdom’s Vision “2030” in its eighth year, and on the anniversary of its launch on April 25, 2016, which highlighted the developmental achievements achieved by the Kingdom at various levels.in the middle of its journey, Saudi Arabia achieved its goals more quickly, as 87% of its initiatives are completed, or on track, while 81% of the key performance indicators of the programs achieved their annual targets, therefore, the special meeting will be an occasion for participants to be briefed on this progress achieved in the economic transformation strategy and in the business environment available to foreign investment.

The kingdom has a lot of numbers to share during the meetings, so they can look at all the fruits of the “Vision 2030,” the lessons learned and successes, and the things that the kingdom is still working on.

8 years after the launch of the” Saudi Vision 2030″, Saudi Arabia has shown its readiness to lead the way towards an advanced model of growth based on transformation, which is characterized by innovation and sustainability; the outputs of the vision are to chart the path towards a prosperous economy based on knowledge and innovation, a path that unleashes the enormous potential of the kingdom’s human capital.

He also reviewed the growth achieved by the kingdom over the past years, which came from new economic sectors that started from scratch in accordance with the” Vision 2030,” such as sports, entertainment, and tourism. The kingdom has proven its ability to lead a sustainable model globally, pointing out that it has achieved 20% economic growth since 2016, and the non-oil economy represents 50% of GDP in 2023.