Saudi Home kicks off Davos with push on Imaginative and prescient 2030, AI platform and ‘humanizing’ tourism
DAVOS: For regulars on the World Financial Discussion board, Monday in Davos is often an opportunity to ease into the week, a time to reconnect, plan conferences and put together for the extraordinary schedule forward.
This 12 months, Saudi Arabia moved shortly to fill that lull, taking middle stage with a packed program of panels forward of Tuesday’s official opening.
On the Saudi Home — the Kingdom’s official pavilion on the Promenade, returning after its debut as a standalone venue on the 2025 WEF Annual Assembly — Saudi ministers and international executives set out how the Kingdom sees the following section of its transformation.
Monday’s audio system on the Saudi Home included Minister of Finance Mohammed Al-Jadaan, Minister of Funding Khalid Al-Falih, Minister of Tourism Ahmed Al-Khateeb, and President and Vice Chairman of Meta Dina Powell McCormick. (Equipped)
Established by the Ministry of Economic system and Planning, the venue is pitched as a platform for worldwide thought leaders to deal with the challenges, alternatives and options shaping the worldwide financial system.
Opening a session on the Kingdom’s function at this 12 months’s Discussion board and the following section of Imaginative and prescient 2030 — now in its tenth 12 months and roughly two-thirds full — Princess Reema bint Bandar, Saudi Arabia’s ambassador to the US, stated human capital “is the precise driver if you need a aggressive, fashionable financial system.”
She described one of many greatest achievements of the previous decade because the emergence of a extremely certified cohort of younger Saudis who might work wherever on the earth however “select to come back dwelling, select to construct at dwelling and select to ship at dwelling,” calling this “the most important image of the success of Imaginative and prescient 2030.”
Who can provide you optimum entry to alternatives whereas addressing dangers? I contend that Saudi Arabia has been in a position to present that components.
Khalid Al-Falih, Saudi minister of funding
On the identical panel, Minister of Finance Mohammed Aljadaan stated this success is rooted in a “behavioral change” that has strengthened the Kingdom’s credibility with each worldwide companions and its personal residents.
“Credibility comes from being very pragmatic, ensuring that you just preserve your fiscal coverage self-discipline, however on the identical time refocus your assets the place it issues,” he stated, warning that “markets will name your bluff if you happen to’re not critical.”
The Saudi Home, a cross-ministerial initiative led by the Ministry of Economic system and Planning, is meant to underscore the Kingdom’s “dedication to international cooperation” by providing “a platform the place visionary concepts are shared and formed,” whereas showcasing alternatives and classes from its “unprecedented nationwide transformation.”
Lubna Olayan, Chair of the Company Board, Olayan Group
Echoing earlier feedback to Arab Information, Economic system and Planning Minister Faisal Alibrahim stated the Kingdom’s function as an anchor of stability has helped unlock its potential, stressing that whereas the target is to decouple from reliance on a single commodity, “2030 shouldn’t be the ending line.”
Khalid Al-Falih, Saudi minister of funding, stated Saudi Arabia has been in a position to allow entry to alternatives whereas addressing main dangers, arguing that few nations can match the Kingdom’s general combine.
“No nation has all of these to 100%,” he stated. “However who can provide the combine that offers you optimum entry to alternatives whereas addressing all of these dangers?
Dr. Bedour Alrayes, Deputy CEO, Human Functionality Improvement Program, Saudi Arabia
“I contend that Saudi Arabia has been in a position to present that components and the proof is within the pudding,” noting that native funding has doubled lately to succeed in ranges comparable with India and China.
Whereas societal transformation dominated the morning discussions, the afternoon turned to know-how, tourism, sport and tradition, 4 strategic sectors anticipated to spearhead Imaginative and prescient 2030’s subsequent section.
The Ministry of Economic system and Planning used the day to announce the SUSTAIN Platform, as a consequence of launch in 2026, which goals to speed up AI-enabled, cross-sector collaboration for sustainable growth.
The ministry stated SUSTAIN will translate the Kingdom’s public and private-sector coordination mandate right into a sensible nationwide device to assist authorities entities, companies, buyers, academia and civil society establish credible companions, kind trusted coalitions and transfer initiatives “from planning to implementation extra effectively,” addressing a worldwide problem the place fragmented partnerships usually sluggish supply and blunt impression.
“We’re in a second in time the place know-how could nicely impression the face of humanity,” stated Dina Powell McCormick, lately appointed president and vice chairman of Meta, welcoming the Kingdom’s “need” to accomplice with know-how firms and its embrace of innovation.
Minister of Tourism Ahmed Alkhateeb, discussing how know-how is being deployed in his sector, underlined that “in journey and tourism, persons are crucial. We find out about different individuals’s tradition by means of interacting with individuals. We digitalize the pointless and humanize the mandatory.”
He added that whereas technological transformation is a precedence, “we don’t need to change this massive workforce with know-how. I feel we have to shield them in Saudi Arabia, the place we’re being a mannequin. I’m an advocate of holding the individuals.”
All through the week, Saudi Home will host greater than 20 periods, together with over 10 accredited by the WEF, throughout six themes: Daring Imaginative and prescient, Insights for Affect, Individuals and Human Functionality, High quality of Life, Funding and Collaboration, and Welcoming the World.
The pavilion can even launch “NextOn,” a brand new collection of influential and academic talks that includes main international voices.
