Red signal on the Saudi Vision 2030: Private sectors wary of the Crown Prince (1)

* You can read full text as follows:

http://ocininitiative.maeda1.jp/0458Ocin201901MbsEnglish.pdf

1.Introduction:

 Prince Muhammad bin Salman (MbS) of Saudi Arabia is struggling to realize the economic structural reform plan "Vision 2030" that he launched in 2016. It is an ambitious plan to diversify and modernize the Saudi which is heavily relied on oil nowadays. There is no doubt that the people, especially young generation, is highly expecting Vision 2030. The current oil-dependent economy means the dependence on public sectors. However, it is indispensable to utilize the capability of the private sector for diversification of economy. To that end, both cooperation of domestic private corporate owners and the capital investment and technology transfer from abroad are inevitable. But as far as the current situation is concerned, domestic corporate owners and overseas investors share a sense of caution against Prince Muhammad. This shows that the Vision 2030 is uncertain to reach its goal at this moment.

2.Two incidents triggered off private sectors:

Vision 2030 was announced in April 2016, when MbS was then Deputy Crown Prince. He had been given full power from his father to elaborate the whole plan and executed it. When his father King Salman raised him to Crown Prince, Muhammad seized the mighty powers covering all political and economic issues. His attitude became arrogant and brutal.

The typical example was a case of impeachment of corruption in November 2017. In this case, about 200 peoples were arrested consisting royal family members like Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, famous billionaire, high-ranking officials like ex-Finance Minister and prominent businessmen including the owners of Saudi Binladen Group (SBG) were arrested. They were detained at Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Riyadh. There was no doubt that this impeachment was aimed at eliminating the political opponents. The target was the supporters of the late King Abdallah. Suspects were released after nearly two months of detention. They paid tremendous amount of money. It was curious that a formal trial never took place afterwards. Some suspects were reported to have been forbidden to go abroad and forced to fetter with GPS to his foot.

Another case was the murder of journalist Mr. Khashoggi at Saudi Consulate in Istanbul. Prince Muhammad strongly denied his involvement in the case. However, the mastermind was the top executive of the intelligence organization and MbS controls directly the organization. Therefore, international public opinion is convinced that Crown Prince directly ordered the assassination of Mr. Khashoggi. The only one who presides for Crown Prince is President Trump of the United States.

The case of corruption impeachment has grown up the red signal and disgust for MbS within business executives in Saudi Arabia against MbS. And Khashoggi’s case prevailed the distrust for executives abroad. The Crown Prince still put up a bluff, but his image is infinitely black.

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Please tell us your comments and opinions on this matter.

By Areha Kazuya

E-mail: Arehakazuya1@gmail.com

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