Name: Saudi Arabia no longer just a place to take money but make money
Uploaded: 2025-10-30T09:28:04.716Z
Duration: 3 min 40 s
Description: Saudi Arabia is transforming its economy, aiming to reduce oil reliance below 50% while tapping $1 trillion in infrastructure opportunities through 2032, says Minister Faisal Alibrahi.

Saudi Arabia is transforming its economy, aiming to reduce oil reliance below 50% while tapping $1 trillion in infrastructure opportunities through 2032, says Minister Faisal Alibrahi.

Riyadh

Saudi Arabia's economy minister, Faisal al-Ibrahim, stated that the country is moving from being a source of capital to a destination for economic opportunities, emphasizing a shift from heavy spending to wise investment. The government is focusing on attracting long-term, value-creating capital and strengthening the private sector to drive growth beyond oil.

Al-Ibrahim noted that infrastructure development alone could generate around $1 trillion in demand by 2032, and that regulatory reforms are making the business environment more attractive for institutional investors. He highlighted that non-oil activities now account for 56% of Saudi Arabia's real GDP, up from 46% before the launch of Vision 2030, with the goal of further reducing reliance on oil revenues.

Saudi Arabia no longer just a place to 'take money' but 'make money'

I spoke with Saudi Arabia's economy minister Faisal al-Ibrahim here in Riyadh. He told me the focus is shifting from spending big to spending wise. He also said Saudi Arabia is seeking to attract long-term value-creating capital and also strengthening the private sector to drive growth beyond oil. People here stopped coming to Saudi to take money. They're coming here to make money. Saudi Arabia stopped being a source of capital only to also a capital of opportunities, real economic opportunities. This is not just some tangential improvement or announcement here and there. And we're just unlocking the potential and scratching the surface of the real economic opportunities. The demand that will be created by simply or only infrastructure requirements aside from the mega and the giga projects, aside from brownfield and aside from capital recycling from now till 2030, 2032 is around $1 trillion. There's a large infrastructure opportunity. We've established a specific and dedicated infrastructure for that, infrastructure funds for that, that's focusing on maximizing additionality through attracting smart, long-term value-creating capital. And we're witnessing it today. We're seeing people looking at projects, contributing to these projects. And keep in mind, in the past, the objective was delivery. Now the discussion has shifted to delivery at the right cost, the wisest use of capital, because we want to spend the capital across other priorities. Today, what shapes the non-oil economy today is a larger number of sector and activities than four or five years ago. So there's a lot of sectors that can be pushed even further. And we look forward to more of these engagements, more of these opportunities to crowd in that kind of capital. I mean, it's important to keep in mind that the power of the pen and regulatory frameworks is a tool that we're getting stronger at. We're leveraging a policy-first approach, not just a spend-first approach. Now it's a spend-wiser approach. But at the same time, commercial sense, the government is developing a strong muscle for commercial sense that's making it attractive for large institutional investors to participate in this story. So with oil holding at around $60 a barrel, you're not necessarily breaking a sweat right now. Well, the whole objective is to not think about oil price. The whole objective is to detach our economic activity from where oil price fluctuates, from where the budget is expansionary or deflationary. The whole idea is that private sector dynamism, strengthened by the right environment, the right enabling environment, can create that growth momentum that continues decoupling from the price of oil. As far as oil markets, our objective has always been long-term market stability, the right supply, the right level of investments to bring the right supply for this clearly growing demand. And am I correct in assuming that that decoupling from oil happens at some point between 2033-2035? Or can it happen sooner before? Well, we want to see it sooner, but we will rely on these oil flows for their optimal impact on the economy. As I said, 56% of total real GDP is non-oil activities for the first time. It used to be 46% before Vision 2030. And reliance on oil has dropped to 68% in a very short period of time. And we want to take that to the 50s and below.

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