At the Fortune Global Forum in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia’s Minister of Investment, Khalid A. Al-Falih, described the breakthroughs occurring under Vision 2030, the kingdom’s economic transformation plan that is roughly nine years old. Describing 2025 as a “pivotal moment,” the minister argued that “the very foundations of global business are being shaken, in a way, and being rewritten before our own eyes.” He described “tectonic shifts” in geopolitics, global trade, technology, supply chains, energy, even demographics, “all converging to reshape how companies and countries think and operate, how they compete and create value for their stakeholders.”
In conversation with Fortune Editor-in-Chief Alyson Shontell, as well as Alphabet President and Chief Investment Officer Ruth Porat and Barclays Group CEO C.S. Venkatakrishnan, Al-Falih described what he sees as a world where “everyone is concerned” about supply chains still “pushed to the limit,” more than five years after the onset of the pandemic. “Supply chain resilience for both companies and nations and policy makers and governments is dominant,” he said, also citing digital disruption as a key inflection point.
“Underneath this,” Minister Al-Falih told Shontell, there’s a human concern he sees driving leaders’ actions today: “I believe people are looking for partners with whom they can trust who are not short-term, transactional.” The minister framed Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 not simply as a national reform agenda, but as a blueprint for global collaboration rooted in mutual resilience — the belief that long-term prosperity depends on shared growth across nations and industries.
“Interdependence remains the defining truth of our time,” Minister Al-Falih said in his opening remarks, urging businesses to embrace cross-border partnerships rather than retreat behind protectionist walls. He described the Kingdom as a “platform for global growth,” emphasizing that resilience in the modern economy requires openness, innovation, and integration with like-minded partners. His message was clear: Saudi Arabia aims to be the world’s most reliable investment destination for companies navigating geopolitical fractures, shifting supply chains, and the green transition.
Since its launch in 2016 under Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Vision 2030 has redrawn Saudi Arabia’s economic map. The minister highlighted that non-oil sectors now account for 56% of the national GDP, up from 40% at the program’s inception. Unemployment has dropped below 7% while women’s participation in the labor force has more than doubled to 37% (the latest World Bank data shows 34%), far surpassing early reform targets.
