by Anas Alyusuf

“All success stories start with a vision, and successful visions are based on strong pillars.” Today Saudi Arabia, while marking its 89th National Day, can say with pride and confidence that change is visible. And “It’s happening”.

The seamless change emphasizes pride in our glorious past, reliance in a visionary leadership that has built a strong present and confidence in the vision of the nation’s future with empowerment of society as the bulwark of prosperity.

Vision and the pillars to prop up that vision are the keys on which Saudi Vision 2030 is built. And once set in motion, the empowered are now powering the wheels of success in Saudi Arabia.

The Kingdom is replete with blessings and untapped opportunities, and it was from this perspective that Crown Prince Muhammad Bin Salman came up with the plan for Saudi Arabia to exploit every inch of this precious land with what can be described as “a bold yet achievable blueprint for an ambitious nation.”

From March 2016 when the Vision was announced officially, work by the Saudi government to realize the goals set by this Vision began “round the clock”. The dream was very big, yet Saudis proved ambitious with their leadership always willing to assist them in surmounting every obstacle on the way to achieving the Vision’s goals.

Today, after almost four years since the Vision was announced, Saudis are seeing the fruits of their efforts — a dream come true in such a short time. What was thought to be impossible to do four years ago, now is seemingly routine with new scenes of novel and innovative success stories on the Saudi map.

The efforts of nation building were given a fresh impetus with every section of society given an inclusive, yet firm direction in their efforts to contribute to this national change. The Vision targeted women and youth — the two additional drivers — in charting a new visionary path.

And with it came improvement in the quality of life for Saudis. It is hard to believe how many mega international sports events have taken place in Saudi Arabia during the past two years, such as Formula E, WWE, Italian Super Cup and international tournaments for chess with a world heavyweight fight on the cards at the end of this year. It’s just the beginning. It’s happening.

Also who would have thought that musical concerts would be available on almost a weekly basis in the Kingdom without any segregation between men and women? To top it all, some of the world’s most famous artists have arrived in the Kingdom and performed in Jeddah, Riyadh and other historical places. With music, came the cinema houses, allowing for another facet of entertainment.

All these efforts will develop an ecosystem to support and create new career options that boost citizens’ and residents’ participation in cultural, environmental and sports activities.

This is in addition to other suitable activities that contribute to enhancing the quality of life of individuals and families, diversifying economic activity and raising the status of Saudi Arabian cities so that they rank among the smart cities in the world.

The Kingdom has also launched initiatives to encourage tourism investment by providing guarantees for 91 new tourism facilities with a total estimated value of SR142 million, in addition to announcing the issuance of tourist visas soon. This will open the Kingdom to tourists from all over the world.

In 2018, the World Economic Forum (WEF) ranked Saudi Arabia seventh worldwide in the efficiency of government spending index, a rise of five positions, and this is a key measure of global competitiveness.

Awareness of sport boosting fitness has also grown. The number of Saudi citizens aged over 15 who exercise at least once a week rose from 13 percent to 23 percent in 2018, helping the General Sports Authority’s (GSA) beat its interim Vision 2030 target of getting 20 percent of Saudis over 15 exercising by 2020.

In another crack in the ceiling, from driving to traveling abroad, Saudi women have been granted in the past two months the right to travel freely without the permission of their guardian, which is seen as a historic leap for gender equality in the Kingdom.

These new regulations are history in the making. They call for the equal engagement of women and men in our society. It is a holistic approach to gender equality that will unquestionably create real change for Saudi women.

All these achievements and more demonstrate the Kingdom’s will and ability to attain Vision 2030 goals, and we can see the change happening right in front of us.

— The author is a Saudi journalist and the head of the editorial team at Saudi Gazette. He can be reached on his Twitter account @AnasAlyusuf or his Email: aalyusuf@okaz.com.sa