Saudi Arabia to highlight Vision 2030 progress as Davos crowd descends on Riyadh

The Davos crowd will descend on the Ritz Carlton in Riyadh this weekend as the World Economic Forum hosts a special meeting that begins on Sunday on themes of global collaboration and energy policy amid crisis in the Middle East.

Saudi Arabia will gather top officials from the U.S., EU and the Arab world on the sidelines on Monday, including U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, to discuss Gaza, Bloomberg reports. 

Within the conference halls, the kingdom will look to drive the conversation among the crowd of key partners toward the progress it is making on its Vision 2030 economic diversification strategy.

Under the wide-ranging plan, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman looks to transform the country by building up industries such as tourism, mining, technology and gaming.

Co-chairs of the Forum’s meeting include Ibrahim A. Al-Assaf, the Saudi Arabian Minister of State; Bill Ford, Chairman and CEO of General Atlantic; Chung Ki-Sun, Vice-Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Hyundai; Anna Marks, Global Chair of Deloitte; and Shunichi Miyanaga, Chairman of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, among other executives from shipping, energy and finance. 

Out of the 1,064 economic development initiatives that have been rolled out under the ambitious strategy, 87% are complete or on track, the state-owned Saudi Press Agency reported on Thursday as it marked the eighth anniversary of the plan’s roll-out.

As of last year, Saudi Arabia recorded improvements in visitor numbers, home  ownership rates, the development of heritage sites, life expectancy and health services coverage, among other indicators.