By Mansoor Alakkas, Summer Times Staff Writer
Vision 2030 Saudi Arabia, the post-oil plan for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, announced in April 2016, coincides with the date set for the announcement of the completion of the delivery of 80 giant government projects like the Riyadh metro, the cost of each of not less than 3.7 billion riyals and up to 20 billion riyals. (A riyal equals 27 cents, U.S. — you do the math.) The plan was organized by the Council of Economic Affairs and Development under the chairmanship of Prince Mohammed bin Salman, and presented for adoption to the Council of Ministers under the chairmanship of King Salman Bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud. It is shared by both the public, private and non-profit sectors.
The targets that were set in 2018 included the return of the movies. Saudis will be able to go to the cinema after a ban of 35 years. The government will make comments to set up movie theaters this year. The first filmmakers are expected to start work in March. Global and regional film companies are welcoming the expected opportunities in a new market of about 30 million people. Adam Aron, chief executive of AMC, one of the world’s largest filmmakers, told CNNMoney that Saudi Arabia’s movie market is worth about $1 billion.
Women will be able to drive. The long-standing ban on women driving cars was finally lifted in June 2018, according to the royal order issued in September, after many women participated in a campaign for the right. Some were arrested for breaking the ban; they were driving with no license and no authority, and that was against the rules.
Now it’s 2019 and all of these targets or goals are finally been achieved. More goals will be accomplished and achieved.
Saudi Arabia aims at a whole new level of improvements and in the next few years hopes to become one of the top countries in the world. There are new restaurants, malls, cars, brands, shops, sports and more. Prince Mohammed bin Salman has traveled around the world to discuss these improvements and goals. He has talked about the vision 2030 and how other countries can help and how they can benefit from this.