When King Abdulaziz forged a nation out of desert winds and fierce resolve, he vowed that his sons would ride camels at dawn and aeroplanes by dusk. His words became a promise that Arabia would never stand still. Nearly a century later, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman revived that pledge and renamed it Vision 2030. Critics once called the plan reckless, doubting that a country built on oil could build a future on ideas. Less than ten years on, the doubt has faded. The numbers—scrutinised by the same markets that once dismissed them—now prove the dream is real.

At the heart of the change is the Public Investment Fund. Once a quiet balance sheet of government holdings, it now commands more than nine hundred billion dollars and invests where private money hesitates. By taking a share in Aramco, backing deep-tech start-ups, and building vast trade routes, the fund has turned state wealth into a powerful engine of daring enterprise.

The wider economy tells the same story. Non-oil income has climbed to forty per cent of government revenue, almost three times the level of 2016. Foreign investors, once cautious, committed twenty-six billion dollars last year, while the Saudi stock market now towers over........

© The Friday Times