Saudi newspapers highlighted in their editorials today a number of issues at local, regional and international arenas. Al-Eqtisadiah newspaper reported in its editorial that HRH Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman previously stated that the non-oil GDP is the main indicator of the success of our economic plans. As a result, all the projects, programs and initiatives launched in 2021 in particular, represent Saudi Arabia's determination to achieve strong growth in the non-oil economy. Recently, Saudi Arabia launched the "Saudi Green" and the "Middle East Green" initiatives and 'The Journey Through Time' Masterplan for AlUla, as part of the previous major projects launched throughout the Kingdom, which clearly achieve the meaning of the non-oil economy, the newspaper added. The newspaper also referred to HRH the Crown Prince's speech about the Public Investment Fund (PIF) and its pioneering role in achieving this strategic shift towards the non-oil economy. The Crown Prince said that the Public Investment Fund has become a major engine in achieving our economy's growth and we were able to double the volume of the Public Investment Fund from 560 billion riyals to more than approximately SAR 1.3 trillion, with a steady pace towards achieving the goal of Vision 2030 that the fund's assets exceed seven trillion riyals. As a part of its role, the PIF announced a major milestone in its renewable energy program with the launch of the Sudair Solar PV plant in Sudair Industrial City, with a PIF-backed consortium signing a power purchase agreement with the Saudi Power Procurement Company for 25 years. The project's initial commissioning is expected during the second half of 2022. It is set to become one of the largest single-contracted Solar PV plants in the world and the largest of its kind in Saudi Arabia at an installed capacity of ~1,500MW. The announcement came during the inauguration ceremony of the Sakaka solar PV. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia now has the largest solar power plants in the world, the newspaper added. All these information represent strategic leadership of HRH the Crown Prince. Only a few months have passed since HRH the Crown Prince affirmation about moving forward towards the non-oil economy and the important role of the Public Investment Fund, and now we see the Crown Prince launches tremendous projects that draw Saudi Arabia's global position in this promising sector. In another context, Al-Yaum newspaper reported in its editorial that corruption is the biggest obstacle to development and reason for the collapse of states' capabilities. In this regard, the newspaper pointed to the Oversight and Anti-Corruption Authority (Nazaha) announcement that it has initiated (971) oversight visits during the month of Shab'an, exercising its mandates and duties, along with investigating (700) accused individuals in criminal and administrative cases, and arresting (176) citizens and residents due to their involvement in criminal and administrative cases. Nazaha also called on all citizens and residents to contribute to protecting and preserving public funds by reporting any suspicions of financial or administrative corruption.
