Spain in Saudi Arabia's Vision 2030

Saudi Arabia plays an important role on the international stage with an independence that allows it to maintain contact with Washington, Moscow and Beijing. The sporting and social spheres are undergoing a profound change. Major signings have led to an enormous prominence in the world of football, tennis, golf and other sports, but reality is also bearing fruit with the multiplication of football teams, both men's and women's, and in the number of people who have taken up the sport.  

Relations between Saudi Arabia and Spain have had an intense week with the visits of the Saudi Foreign and Investment Ministers and the holding in Palma de Mallorca of a summit of international businessmen, more than 90 of them from Saudi Arabia, on real estate development.  

The transformation that the great country of the Arabian Peninsula is undergoing is substantial with the implementation of the Vision 2030 agenda promoted by Prince Mohammed Bin Salman. The changes are affecting all sectors of Saudi society with the aim of guaranteeing the standard of living of its citizens, reducing dependence on oil and facing the new environmental and sustainability challenges with a notable increase in various sources of income, with technological, digital and industrial development that guarantees economic growth and the attraction of talent, knowledge and experience of companies from many parts of the world to produce and create jobs on Saudi soil.  

With a demanding Transparency Law that affects everyone and with a clear desire to open up the country with a clear social evolution of the role of women at all levels of the country and with the reception of quality tourism, the Saudi Government is moving forward with the commitments and objectives of the Vision 2030 Agenda, and plans to diversify the economy with multi-million dollar investments accompanied by regulatory reforms to streamline and attract the work of companies, infrastructure development with the expansion of transport networks, ports and airports. With technological innovation including artificial intelligence and renewable energies, with a special focus on hydrogen.

Saudi Arabia identifies housing, tourism and trade as other pillars of Vision 2030. Within this framework of the current reality of a key country on the international stage in the fields of energy, politics, religion and culture, not forgetting sports, Spain and its companies have a series of great opportunities to carry out or participate in major projects, with the endorsement represented by the AVE from Mecca to Medina and other major projects that bring great prestige to Spanish companies.  

During his stay in Spain, the Saudi Minister of Investment, Khalid Al-Falih, participated in a business meeting organised by Cámara España and held meetings with Indra, Iberdrola, Repsol, FCC, Acciona, Airtbus, Navantia, Siemens-Gamesa and Urbas. On the political front, Al-Falih met with the Spanish Minister of Economy and the third Vice-President and Minister of Ecological Transition. The triangle was closed with political issues by the foreign ministers, with the Spanish foreign minister affirming that we are building a strategic relationship with Saudi Arabia, mutually beneficial trade relations and the defence of international law.  

The misgivings about the entry of the Saudi technology company STC into Telefónica are overcome, or at least the current reality of Saudi Arabia and the historical ties with an exceptional relationship between the Royal Courts, which invites Spain to actively participate in the Vision 2030 agenda, as demonstrated by the businessmen at the real estate development summit in Palma de Mallorca.