Opinion

Saudi Arabia: Development of the mind and land

January 01, 2020
Saudi Arabia: Development of the mind and land

Ekleel Badr Sallam



Saudi Arabia is a developed country that provides humanitarian and financial assistance to other countries in the region and the world. Depending on its youth that make up 67 percent of the total population, the Kingdom focuses on education, globalization, transformation, digitalization and the development of the mind and land.

Saudi Arabia is an example of tolerance and religious coexistence, where officials in embassies and consulates from all over the world live in absolute peace. Having met many of them personally, I found that they were eager to be assigned to a diplomatic post in the Kingdom.

As a female witnessing tremendous change in a short period of time, it will be an honor to tell future generations about this period in the Kingdom’s history. Movies, books and documentaries will record the nation’s transformation.

Saudization now covers most sectors in the Kingdom and the Saudization of jobs in the tourism sector will allow both Saudi women and men to represent the true image of the Kingdom. At the same time, Saudi Arabia issued 1.2 million work visas in 2019, which shows that the Saudi market has attracted new investors and entrepreneurs as Saudi Arabia has become an economic powerhouse.

Saudi citizens support all national cultural activities as they shape and form the national identity. Currently the Kingdom focuses not only on educational exchange but on cultural exchange programs and scholarships, as exchange programs create interaction that turns into mutual understanding of others and has an effective influence.

It is noteworthy that the Kingdom opens its doors to “naturalize” outstanding talent from all over the world, which emphasizes that Saudi Arabia is a cosmopolitan country, welcoming expats who have chosen to work here to enrich their careers.

Riyadh has been named the Arab world’s first digital capital for 2020, as during the year the Kingdom will host the G20 summit and the “Artathon” Global AI Summit. Moreover, shops will be open 24/7 in Saudi Arabia starting from the first day of 2020, which will contribute to achieving the Kingdom’s Vision 2030.

In 2019, Saudi Arabia was ranked as the world's top ease of doing business improver, ranked third in 5G deployment globally and was among the top 10 countries in the UN E-Commerce index, while Saudi Aramco became the largest listed company in the world.

Over a million Umrah visas are issued every 3 months, with a tremendous number of people visiting the holy sites from all over the world including Qatar and Iran, as the Kingdom does not politicize religious matters.

Judging without actually knowing is nonsense and we teach this to our children every day. However, people worldwide must visit Saudi Arabia to clearly see, live, feel and experience its quality of life.

— The author is a Saudi political analyst specialized in International Relations. She can be reached at: ekleel.sallam@hotmail.com Twitter: @EkleelBS


January 01, 2020
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