A decade after Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman unveiled his ambitious ‘Vision 2030’ program to transform Saudi Arabia’s economy, the kingdom is facing financial strains and urgently reviewing its trajectory.

As the NYT reports, ten years ago, the 30-year-old prince promised to end the country’s “addiction” to oil, but today’s reality shows that this mission has proved more difficult than expected.

When oil prices rose in 2021-2022, the prince launched a dizzying array of projects: a giant ski resort in the middle of the desert, a cube-shaped skyscraper and a global golf league.

However, falling prices and the recent war between the US-Israel and Iran, which hampered exports in the Strait of Hormuz, have forced officials to seek savings.

Already 40 years old, Prince Mohammed is facing the tenth anniversary of his program in a defensive position.

The governor of the $1 trillion sovereign wealth fund, Yasir al-Rumayyan, announced a new strategy where the key word is “efficiency.” According to the NYT, the board has asked executives to identify projects “e necessary” and set aside what are considered mere “wishful thinking”.

The first consequences are visible. News suggests that the fund may pull out of support for LIV Golf, while the ski town of Troy. Even the giant skyscraper “Mukaab” may suffer the same fate.

In fact, the Saudi Olympic Committee just announced that the 2029 Asian Winter Games will not be held in Troy, but in Kazakhstan, where the snow is natural.

“History always starts and ends with oil” – economists say to the NYT. Although the government has introduced new taxes to diversify revenues, the prince’s ambitions have grown faster than the state’s financial capacity.

The Ministry of Finance has recorded a budget deficit almost every year in the last decade. is being hailed by his supporters as a normal business move, where unfeasible projects are cancelled.

But critics and the opposition in exile raise questions about the lack of transparency and the billions already spent. They cite the case of “Neom”, where entire communities were displaced for construction that may now never be completed.

Despite the cuts, the prince has not given up on everything is continuing to invest heavily in video games – a personal passion of his – and is prioritizing Artificial Intelligence, World Expo 2030 and the 2034 World Cup.

At the end of this transformative decade, Saudi Arabia remains a country between two worlds: one that aims for the technological future and another that remains firmly tied to fossil fuels.

As the NYT notes, if the prices of oil grow again, no one should be surprised if the prince announces another science fiction project, showing that the break from the old addiction is still a long way. /tesheshi.com/

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Source: prizrenpost