RIYADH — Saudi Arabia will soon announce a strategic national transformation plan to accelerate economic growth through diversification and offset the impact of falling oil prices. The Council of Economic and Development Affairs is currently working on the project in coordination with relevant ministries and government departments. A workshop attended by senior officials and experts in Riyadh discussed proposals and initiatives under the leadership of Deputy Crown Prince Muhammad Bin Salman, second deputy premier and minister of defense, last week to set out the landmark plan. The Kingdom 2020 strategy also aims at strengthening the national economy's achievements and launching a series of economic measures to reduce dependence on oil. It will review the performance of ministries and development plans and take measures to improve their situation. A number of senior Cabinet members attended the workshop to visualize Kingdom 2020. They explained various aspects of the plan while Prince Muhammad Bin Salman replied to the questions of participants. He gave a descriptive account of the project and urged participants to come up with futuristic ideas to bring about national transformation. "This plan is being made for the sake of national development under the directives of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman and Crown Prince Muhammad Bin Naif, deputy premier and minister of interior," the deputy crown prince told the meeting. He said the Kingdom 2020 would focus on effective programs to reduce dependence on oil revenue, support future projects of the country, achieve maximum efficiency for ministries and departments and combat corruption. The plan also aims at creating more jobs for Saudis, providing a positive urban atmosphere to realize the country's higher goals, and developing health and municipal sectors through privatization. Prince Muhammad Bin Salman emphasized the Kingdom's plan to attract more investment in the untapped mining sector, reducing restrictions and obstacles to exploit the country's huge mineral resources, cutting down expenditure. "We'll ensure fair dealings with investors," he said. He said massive investment in minerals was essential to find alternative revenue sources following the deep oil price fall. The Kingdom 2020 would also focus on developing the Haj and Umrah sector, enhancing infrastructure facilities for the benefit of pilgrims. Relevant Saudi agencies are working in association with UN experts to set out 2,000 key performance indicators (KPI) to assess the performance and achievements of the 10th five-year-development plan (2015-19). "The indicators are related to right governance," a senior official said, adding that an assessment of government performance including ministers would be made on the basis of sound statistics. Asked whether any loopholes in the KPI system would be misused in terms of changing data and results, the official said the system was prepared on the basis of a sovereign decision, adding that it is not aimed at controlling a specific executive body. "The KPI dashboard is a big challenge and it indicates that the ministries have to work hard to improve their performance," the official added. The KPI system will be under the direct scrutiny of the prime minister to deal with any disruption in performance of ministries and other institutions. The dashboard will show economic growth, inflation, unemployment and good governance.
