Major Initiatives Fuel Riyadh’s Development Ambitions
Riyadh has charged back into the development limelight in recent months, highlighting the capital’s central role in Saudi Arabia’s ambitious economic transformation agenda.
Riyadh has charged back into the development limelight in recent months, highlighting the capital’s central role in Saudi Arabia’s ambitious economic transformation agenda.
Amid a global financial slump, government reforms in the Gulf Arab states have helped stock markets achieve a remarkable boost in market capitalization.
For Saudi Arabia, PPPs represent a critical means to accelerate major projects and attract investment, but they may highlight weaknesses, such as workforce limitations and lack of expertise to execute certain goals.
The United Arab Emirates is turning to its space program to position itself as a hub for advanced technology, diversify the economy away from oil, and rekindle space culture among young Emiratis.
The continued rise of Indonesia as a Southeast Asian hub has encouraged the Gulf Arab states to view it as both an investment destination and avenue for their economic diversification and growth endeavors.
The financial windfall from oil and gas exports may boost regional officials’ ambitious economic diversification plans but doesn’t make them foolproof.
While long on aspiration and flourish, implementation of the comprehensive strategic partnership has seemed short on substance, highlighting China’s long-held strategy of viewing Tehran as an expendable piece in its chess match with Washington.
There is renewed buoyancy for the Omani economy as rallied oil prices are expected to ease the execution of plans, big and small. Yet, public trust in government plans still falls short.
Saudi Arabia’s commitments to achieve net-zero emissions by 2060 and the new Saudi Green Initiative will drive more investments toward renewables and increasingly greater incorporation of geothermal energy.
The United States has not developed adequate responses for dealing with hybrid groups like the Houthis.
Learn MoreThrough its careful examination of the forces shaping the evolution of Gulf societies and the new generation of emerging leaders, AGSIW facilitates a richer understanding of the role the countries in this key geostrategic region can be expected to play in the 21st century.
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