When Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman first announced the Kingdom’s post-oil blueprint in April many commentators were skeptical . Saudi Arabia, they said, has been talking about ditching its oil dependency and diversifying its economy for decades. The pace with which the current leadership, spearheaded by the youthful deputy crown prince, has proceeded to implement its ambitious plans, on paper at least, might just be giving the most cynical observer pause for thought. At the beginning of May the Saudi cabinet approved the National Transformation Program, which aims to triple the Kingdom’s non-oil revenue and create 450,000 private sector jobs by 2020. Previously untapped industries like mining and tourism are due to be opened up for foreign investment, while the gargantuan sovereign wealth fund created to invest overseas and generate new revenue streams will help replace the petrodollars, which currently account for about 80 percent of the state’s […]