Riyadh, April 25

Here are the main points of the ‘Saudi Vision 2030’ economic reform plan announced by Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and approved by the cabinet today:

• Selling less than five per cent of national oil company Aramco to raise hundreds of billions of dollars through a domestic Initial Public Offering (IPO). This is the first time that part of Aramco, valued at between $2 trillion and $2.5 trillion, will be offered into private hands.
• Turning the Public Investment Fund into the kingdom’s first sovereign wealth fund, the world’s largest with $2 trillion in assets. Around $1 trillion will be raised from sales of state-owned real estate holdings and industrial and economic areas. Aramco sale proceeds will also go into the fund.
• Raising non-oil revenues six-fold from $43.5 billion to $267 billion through, among other measures, major cuts in energy and other public subsidies.
• Increasing the number of Muslim pilgrims performing the Umrah, or minor pilgrimage, from eight million to 30 million per year through massive investments and incentives.
• Raising the private sector contribution to Gross Domestic Product (GDP) from 40 per cent to 65 per cent in 2030.
• Boosting Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) from 3.8 per cent of GDP to the international level of 5.7 per cent.
• Manufacturing half of Saudi Arabia’s military needs within the kingdom.
• Increasing women’s participation in the workforce from 22 per cent to 30 per cent and lowering the unemployment rate from 11.6 per cent to seven per cent.
• The kingdom, where crude sales provide the vast majority of state revenues, wants to ‘live without depending on oil by 2020’, according to the deputy crown prince.
• The efforts aim to move Saudi Arabia from the 19th biggest economy in the world into the top 15.