RIYADH — Crown Prince and Prime Minister Mohammed Bin Salman highlighted the remarkable achievements made by Saudi Arabia ever since the launch of its Vision 2030 and the government's relentless efforts to implement structural reforms in the financial and economic sectors. The Crown Prince, who is also chairman of the Council of Economic and Development Affairs (CEDA), said this in a statement issued on the occasion of the approval of the state's general budget for the fiscal year 2024 by the Council of Ministers on Wednesday. Prince Mohammed bin Salman underscored that the Kingdom is witnessing sustainable economic growth in light of the great development capabilities and opportunities that the Kingdom enjoys within the framework of the Vision 2030. This is to enable it to move forward towards a better future worthy of its status in accordance with the directives of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman. "This produced a clear and prominent impact on the growth of the gross domestic product (GDP) of non-oil sectors." The Crown Prince affirmed the commitment made by the government in the budget for the fiscal year 2024 so as to enhance economic growth through the expansion of government spending. "The budget figures announced by King Salman come supportive and enabling many programs and initiatives. "These include investments to strengthen infrastructure, raise the quality of services provided to citizens, expatriates and visitors. "This is in addition to developing promising economic sectors, enhancing investment attraction, stimulating industries, and raising the proportion of local content and non-oil Saudi exports," he said. The Crown Prince also praised the effective and important role of the Public Investment Fund (PIF) and the National Development Fund. The Crown Prince emphasized that work would continue to develop the Kingdom's public financial performance, by increasing financial capacity and building government reserves. This would be in a way that it enhances the capacity of the Kingdom's economy, maintains sustainable levels of public debt, and enables it to confront any developments or crises that may arise in the future. "The increase in spending is mainly due to the government's keenness to continue developing the level of public services provided to citizens, expatriates and visitors. "The hike is as well as to implement many projects and expand spending on sectoral and regional development strategies that would achieve positive structural changes, leading to expanding and diversifying the economic base," he said. The Crown Prince stressed the government's keenness on developing and strengthening partnership with the private sector so as to enable and motivate it to play its major role in achieving economic diversification. In addition, it would enable the labor market to absorb more of the Saudi workforce, create job opportunities in the labor market and reduce unemployment rates among Saudis. "The total number of Saudis in the labor market this year jumped to 2.3 million. "This is in addition to improving the investment environment to be an attractive environment that contributes to raising the proportion of domestic and foreign investment, developing non-oil exports and improving the non-oil trade balance of payments," he said. The Crown Prince emphasized that the journey of economic diversification continues through supporting promising sectors, as the Kingdom works to raise tourism targets to 150 million visitors internally and externally by 2030. This is in addition to building an effective sports sector through the "Investment and Privatization Project for Sports Clubs," in order to achieve the goals of the Vision 2030 in the sports sector, as these sectors are witnessing rapid growth and providing diverse opportunities. Prince Mohammed Bin Salman reiterated the Kingdom's determination to develop its industrial sector, as it is one of the most important vital sectors in the Saudi economy, by diversifying the industrial base and value chains through the "National Strategy for Industry''. The strategy focuses on 12 sub-sectors to diversify the industrial economy and raise the industrial domestic product by around three times compared to the year 2020, reaching SR895 billion in 2030 to be a major contributor to the development of non-oil exports. This is in integration with the important role of the PIF as it is the investment arm that contributes and complements the efforts undertaken by the government in diversifying the economy, and the pivotal role of the National Development Fund and its affiliated funds in providing concessional financing to the private sector, he pointed out. Speaking about the pivotal and leadership role of the Kingdom, the Crown Prince stressed the Kingdom's role regionally and internationally, and its endeavor to ensure that the countries of the world enjoy security and stability. These are the main factors for development and prosperity, and its keenness to develop and stabilize supply and value chains in a way that serves the development and economic prosperity of all countries of the world, he added. The Crown Prince stressed the Kingdom's determination to continue the development momentum during the coming year and in the medium and long term. This, he added, was with boosting the attractiveness of the Kingdom's economy as a base for local and foreign investments besides diversifying the economy through the development of all economic sectors.
