Vision and Special Economic Zones
Hani Khashoggi
With confident steps and unrelenting determination, the Kingdom continues its march towards the forefront, achieving all its goals to be one of the first world countries in progress, growth and qualitative prosperity, through an ambitious vision, well planned and skillfully implemented, the harvest was abundant and in all sectors.
As much as the vision succeeded in enhancing economic, social and political successes, it was able to raise the ceiling of ambitions, which exceeded the local and regional scales, and knocked on the doors of the world, in a scene that confirms to those concerned that the Kingdom is an exceptional country, at the center of the Middle East, with technical and human capabilities and capacities that push it to the farthest point of the international international international and deservedly.
Such confidence in the Kingdom's potential and its qualitative progress prompted Investment Minister Khalid Al-Falih to openly declare Saudi Arabia's desire to be among the first nations economically. Such statements, with such strength and high ambitions, were not palatable in the statements of officials in the pre-Vision era, but today they touch the world, as if Saudi Arabia decided to share its dreams, directions and interests with major countries as well.
The vision projects and ideas that have been launched, and their march will not stop, recently announced the Special Economic Zones Strategy, which efficiently supports the National Transformation Program (NTP). The launch of this strategy was not random or for the sake of economic showmanship, but for specific objectives, most notably strengthening local capabilities to attract international companies to the Kingdom, making the country a compass for investors and major companies around the world, in addition to strengthening national capabilities in the non-oil sector and creating huge value for investors.
The last objective is the creation of special economic zones, which efficiently support the National Transformation Program. <The last goal brings us back to the details of what happened in the summer of 2016, when the Crown Prince announced Vision 2030 for the first time. At that time, the most optimistic did not expect that this vision would fully realize its promises, especially when reducing dependence on oil income, as everyone at home and abroad was amazed and wondered how the Kingdom which has been dependent on oil income in its budgets since the 1970s, to develop other sectors that depend on it in the Kingdom's budget other than oil, and it was not long before the vision achieved a large part of the dream, culminating last year (2022), by achieving a reassuring percentage of income in non-oil sectors, and at the same pace, the Kingdom continues its progress on the same file, in the current year (2023).
I do not rule out that the Kingdom will very soon achieve more international achievements that make it a major scientific and industrial country, based on innovations and inventions, and have global scientific valleys, such as <a style="color: #800000;" href="https://www.independentarabia.com/node/54391//------1TP3
