According to al-Jadaan, the authorities aim to convey to the public an updated strategy that will focus on tourism, the manufacturing sector, logistics, and new technologies. However, no specific dates for the release of the updated program were mentioned.
The kingdom is already moving away from its previous plans for economic diversification and reducing dependence on oil revenues. Some major projects related to "Vision 2030" have been either scaled back or completely canceled. For instance, the Neom project on the Red Sea coast has undergone significant changes and has been downsized, while the construction of the massive cubic complex Mukab in the center of Riyadh has been temporarily suspended. It has also been decided to reduce the Trojena ski resort project, which will not host the 2029 Winter Asian Games.
The new strategy involves developing areas where Saudi Arabia expects to leverage its competitive advantages. One of the key priorities will be artificial intelligence. For example, the technology company Humain, owned by the kingdom's Sovereign Fund, received its first batch of modern chips from Nvidia in December.
It was previously reported that the Neom project faced serious financial and organizational challenges. As noted by the Financial Times, the Saudi authorities were forced to scale back construction due to reduced financial reserves and to reconsider the parameters of the project, which was initially estimated at $1.5 trillion and later reduced to $500 billion.
