RIYADH — The National Transformation Program, one of the Saudi Vision 2030 programs, was able to accomplish 34 strategic goals, equivalent to 35 percent, last year, out of 96 goals set to achieve by 2030. Since the launch of Vision 2030 journey in 2016, the great positive transformations witnessed in the Kingdom's cities and regions have contributed to shaping a new, higher-quality life and providing better livelihoods, driven by the National Transformation Program, which includes easy government digital services that save effort and time, in addition to enhancing the role of the private sector. According to a recent report issued by the National Transformation Program (NTP), the maturity rate of the digital experience of government services in the Kingdom during the year 2023 reached 80.68 percent, and 97 percent of government services in the same period were provided electronically. The volume of savings resulting from digital government initiatives last year amounted to SR6.25 billion. The Kingdom achieved its highest historical result in the E-Government Development Index 2022, issued by the United Nations, in which it advanced 12 places to 31st rank globally. It was revealed that Saudi Arabia is also one of the best countries in the world in the areas of providing government services information and making available and sharing open government data to citizens and business sectors. According to the report, the average Internet speeds for downloading in the Kingdom for fixed and mobile internet reached 153.1 Mbps and 214.6 Mbps respectively, while the fifth generation mobile reached about 327.49 Mbps. The NTP focused on activating digital transformation in judicial services, and succeeded in raising the percentage of services provided electronically from 30 percent during 2015 to 86.9 percent by the end of the previous year. The Ministry of Justice's Najiz platform has contributed to reducing the case life by 79 percent, and made it easier for beneficiaries in more than 100 countries to benefit from digital services. The ministry was able to digitize 180 million real estate documents, including records, controls, and transactions, and sort and merge more than 100,000 deeds in minutes per application, in addition to completing 17,000 transactions in the first week of launching the real estate stock exchange platform. The report stated that the Tawakkalna Ma'ak application, with its new identity, witnessed an expansion in its integrated and harmonious services that enrich the experience of citizens, residents and visitors, through 240 services and 31 million users, supported by seven languages, and operating in more than 75 countries. Regarding the environmental file, the NTP's initiatives contributed to the rehabilitation of more than 192,000 hectares of vegetation, and increased the percentage of protected and registered areas of the total area of the Kingdom from 4.3 percent in 2016 to more than 18.8 percent in 2023. The accuracy rate of forecasting and early warning of weather hazards three days in advance increased from 60 to 81.14 percent over the past year. The Kingdom launched the largest irrigation network with treated water in the world to irrigate 7.5 million trees. The report revealed the most prominent steps taken by the Kingdom to confront water challenges, most notably: rationalizing the use of water in agricultural production, investing in water desalination and strategic storage, and expanding the use of treated wastewater to support the "Green Saudi Arabia" initiative. To confront food crises, the NTP's initiatives worked to enhance the Kingdom's food grain capacity, and contributed to increasing the wheat storage capacity of the General Authority for Food Security from 2.5 million tons in 2016 to 3.5 million tons last year. The report showed the self-sufficiency rate for the most important agricultural products, notable among them are dates (124 percent), table eggs (117 percent), dairy products (118 percent), and poultry and red meat (68 percent and 60 percent) respectively. The report also showed that Saudi Arabia achieved first place in the Middle East and North Africa region in terms of venture investment during the past year, accounting for 52 percent of the total investment in the region with a record value of SR5.2 billion, and that Riyadh has become a preferred investment destination through the issuance of more than 180 licenses for regional headquarters of international companies by the end of 2023. Foreign investment licenses issued by the Ministry of Investment recorded more than 8,500 licenses during the past year, with a growth rate of more than 96 percent compared to 2022. Saudi Arabia continues comprehensive economic reforms to empower the private sector and attract local and foreign investments, in addition to its progress in the competitiveness yearbook by achieving 17th place globally out of 64 countries, and third place among the G20. The 'Invest in Saudi' platform, affiliated with the Ministry of Investment, offered about 1,283 opportunities ranging from tourism and entertainment, communications and information technology, biotechnology and pharmaceuticals, advanced industries, metals and mining, energy, financial and environmental services, and others. The Saudi Business Center has provided 2.5 million services to the private sector since March 2020, in addition to 160 initiatives that have been completed, including legislative, procedural and technical reforms, and 66 partnership agreements to facilitate start-up businesses. The report also shed light on the decrease in the unemployment rate during the third quarter of last year to 8.6 percent, and the improvement of working conditions for expatriates to 73 percent during the last year.
