Saudi Arabia has begun reviewing its Vision 2030, a sweeping diversification agenda launched in Saudi Arabia in 2016. The country's de facto ruler, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman — at the time Deputy Crown Prince as well as Minister of Defense — introduced the $2 trillion (€1.7 trillion) reform agenda a decade ago to reduce the kingdom's reliance on oil, and to transform the economy and society.

Since then, Riyadh has been shifting its economy as the world's biggest oil exporter toward technology, tourism and renewable energy. Other key areas are the construction of various giga projects — large-scale developments like entire new cities that are considered transformative for perception of Saudi Arabia — the increase of private-sector growth, as well as steps to modernize Saudi society, such as expanding women's rights and boosting their participation in the workforce.

This week, however, Finance Minister Mohammed al-Jadaan announcedthat Saudi Arabia was adjusting the reform's strategy. In an interview with the business news site Bloomberg on Monday, al-Jadaan said the government was working on a new five-year plan aimed at "doubling down on tourism, manufacturing, logistics and energy."

The revised approach means some projects will be scaled back, others expanded and some put on hold, he said.

Saudi construction projects scaled down or stopped

Earlier this month, Saudi Arabia's Olympic Committee announced that the 2029 Asian Winter Games will be held in Almaty, Kazakhstan, instead of at the under construction Trojena ski resort in the mountains of the futuristic NEOM project in Saudi Arabia. In 2025, NEOM's scope was already scaled back: An originally planned 170-kilometer-long pair of parallel skyscrapers as tall as New York's Empire State Building will now only be 2.4 (1.5 miles) kilometers long.

In late January, the construction of The Mukaab — a 400-meter-by-400-meter cube-shaped skyscraper planned as the centerpiece of Riyadh's New Murabba district — was suspended as officials reassessed its financing and feasibility. 

Instead, Mohammed bin Salman announced the King Salman Gate in October 2025, a new area adjacent to Mecca's Grand Mosque that will add some 900,000 indoor and outdoor praying spaces.

 
"Any major project rightly goes through periods of revision and adjustment in response to wider considerations," Alice Gower, Director of Geopolitics and Security at the London-based consulting firm Azure Strategy, told DW. "Saudi Arabia's Vision 2030 objectives were ambitious and many of the giga projects in particular could be described as unrealistic from the outset."

The combination of global oil prices below levels needed for funding and high government spending, as well as a young population in need of employment have furthermore strained government coffers, Gower added.

The role of Saudi Arabia's Public Investment ‌Fund

The revision of the country's key agenda has been pushed by ‌Saudi Arabia's Public Investment ‌Fund, or PIF, the main investor in Vision 2030's projects. According to an October 2025 report by news agency Reuters, the $925 billion sovereign wealth fund increased its pressure to shift the focus away from costly real estate projects to industries that promise better returns in the near future.

Yasir Al-Rumayyan, PIF's governor, told reporters in January that for the next five years, the fund will focus on six "ecosystems" including tourism, urban development, innovation, clean energy and industry. 

"The new focus is on internationally facing projects such as the World Cup 2034, where the potential dividends for Saudi Arabia are considerable," Gower confirmed, adding that "these areas also provide opportunities for the global audience to experience Saudi Arabia."
 
The reform of Vision 2030 was also recommended in a recently published working paper by the International Monetary Fund, or IMF.

"Continued reforms are needed to address structural gaps and adapt to new priorities, especially by aligning initiatives with youth aspirations," the paper said.

In particular, it outlined that there "is a mismatch between labor market demands and skills … as Vision 2030's target sectors may not yet fully leverage the country's highly educated workforce."
 
However, given that Vision 2030 is in its tenth year, Saudi Arabia's young generation has grown up under the promise of Vision 2030 reforms, ambition and economic growth.

"The shift of Visions 2030's focus, in response to economic challenges, is something of a shock as many have tied their careers to the development plan's objectives," Alice Gower warned.

Authoritarianism and repression in Saudi Arabia continue

Despite this shock, observers don't expect public outrage over the reshuffling of priorities. Saudi Arabia is regularly criticized for its dire human rights situation and repression of criticism. In the past five years, various people were sentenced to decades in prison for liking a human rights post on social media. Also, executions of the death penalty have increased in 2025.

In turn, Gower predicts that state surveillance will be sensitive to any outward signs of discontent, expressed on social media or in public settings, and on the revision of the reform set.

Julia Legner, Executive Director of the London-based human rights watchdog ALQST, told DW that "these oversized, top-down initiatives, driven by the PIF and tightly controlled by Mohammed bin Salman, exclude large parts of the Saudi society."

Saudi gender equality 'still far off'

This view is echoed by Ahmed Benchemsi, Advocacy and Communications Director for Human Rights Watch's Middle East and North Africa division.

"In Saudi Arabia, reform and repression alike are imposed from the top, both under strict authoritarian rule," Benchemsi told DW.

On the surface, it appears to be progress, but on closer inspection, a grimmer reality emerges, Benchemsi said.

"So yes, women can drive, yes, they are more encouraged to join the workforce, but their freedom is limited, their rights are conditional and their autonomy is tightly controlled," he said.

Despite reforms, women can still be penalized for "disobeying" their husbands. Divorce can be blocked, child custody can be taken away, either via legal rules or by bureaucracy, he said. 

"As for gender equality, real gender equality, it is still far off," Benchemsi said.

Edited by: Carla Bleiker