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Spotlight on Saudi The kingdom also remains in talks about a landmark deal under which it would recognise Israel for the first time while strengthening its security partnership with the United States.Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Saudi Arabia’s de facto ruler, spoke optimistically about the deal in an interview with Fox News in September, but analysts say the war has made it more difficult.Meanwhile the conservative Gulf kingdom, home to the holiest shrines in Islam, is trying to open up to the world, luring business leaders and non-religious tourists.Hosting international events such as the WEF meeting allows the kingdom to showcase social changes including the reintroduction of cinemas and the lifting of a ban on women driving.”Eight years into Vision 2030, we have demonstrated our willingness to lead the way towards a model of transformative growth that is innovative, inclusive and sustainable. And we’ve seen some of the results,” Ibrahim said on Saturday.Yet questions persist about just how much of Vision 2030 will be achieved and when, with special scrutiny falling on signature projects such as NEOM, a planned futuristic megacity.In December, Jadaan, the Saudi finance minister, said officials had decided to push the timeframe for some major projects past 2030, without specifying which ones, though he also noted that others would be accelerated.Saudi Arabia is projecting budget deficits through 2026 and GDP growth was nearly flat last year after a series of oil production cuts.Jadaan stressed on Sunday that non-oil GDP growth was “very healthy” at 4.4 percent and that “Vision 2030 is about, actually, the non-oil GDP”.
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Host Saudi warns of economic fallout from Gaza war at global summit
