Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman spoke about the role of cities in development, and said that they are a major axis in development, noting that Riyadh constitutes about 50% of the non-oil economy in Saudi Arabia.
The Saudi Crown Prince revealed this during his speech, today, Thursday, at the Future Investment Initiative conference (FII) in Saudi Arabia.
He said, "Global economies are not based on countries, but on cities. 85% of the world economy comes from cities, and in the coming years, 95% of the world’s economies will come from cities."
He pointed out that Riyadh’s strategy will be ambitious and surprise the Saudis and the world. “We aim for Riyadh to be one of the 10 largest city economies in the world, and today, as a city, it is among the 40 largest economies in the world,” he said.
He pointed out that there are plans to establish huge natural reserves around the city of Riyadh to improve the environmental condition of the city, in addition to other environmental projects in the Kingdom as a whole.
The Crown Prince added, "The city of Riyadh constitutes approximately 50% of the non-oil economy in the Kingdom, and the cost of creating a job in it is less than 30% of the rest of the Kingdom's cities. The cost of developing infrastructure and real estate development is 29% less than the rest of the Kingdom.
On the importance of Riyadh in population growth, the Saudi prince said: “We focus on population growth in two main cities, Riyadh and Neom, while in the rest of the regions, we focus on raising services, improving the quality of life, exploiting tourism opportunities, natural resources and other opportunities."
He also revealed, during his speech, the intention of the giant Saudi oil company, "Aramco", to launch more stock sales.
It is noteworthy that "Aramco" is the largest oil company in the world, and in late 2019, it completed the largest initial public offering in the world.
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