Abstract

The case is designed to critically analyze Saudi Arabia’s plan for economic diversification — Saudi Vision 2030. The Saudi cabinet endorsed a sweeping set of programs and reforms to be implemented by 2030 which would help to wean the economy off its oil dependency. The 30-year-old Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman announced the program in April 2016 as a measure to beat the plunging oil prices and minimize losses to the kingdom’s economy. The program had various dimensions and covered areas other than economy like education, tourism, small and medium enterprises, military, etc. Vision 2030 also included privatization of one of the biggest oil producing firms in Saudi Arabia — Aramco. The plan would have implications for the member countries of OPEC and other oil producing and consuming countries. Analysts remained divided over the successful implementation of Vision 2030. Some opined that the plan was perfectly strategized to achieve long-term goals and open up the kingdom’s economy while others found it over-ambitious and unrealistic. The Saudi government faced several challenges in implementing the plan for which it required the support of society and the non-oil sectors. It would take some years to see whether Vision 2030 could actually transform the oil-addicted economy of Saudi Arabia into an oil- independent one.

Learning Objectives

The case is structured to achieve the following Learning Objectives:

• To study the detailed economic profile of Saudi Arabia and the reform plans drawn up under Saudi Vision 2030.
• To assess the impact of Saudi Vision 2030 on oil and other sectors of the country.
• To discuss the feasibility of Saudi’s economic reform plan in the long run through a SWOT analysis and to identify whether such programs could help Saudi Arabia develop into a non-oil economy.

Keywords

Saudi Arabia,Saudi Vision 2030,Economic Diversification,Mohammed Bin Salman,OPEC,Crude Oil,Oil Dependency,Aramco,Public Investment Fund,Doha Meeting,Non-OPEC Countries