Saudi Arabia launches first school for gifted media students

In the past decade, Saudi Arabia has implemented a series of economic and development reforms that have positioned it as a global knowledge hub for economic reform, according to the World Bank Group. The transformation began in 2016 under Vision 2030, with the goal of increasing the country's economic diversity, competitiveness, and trade/business influence.

The Saudi government has focused on productivity, sustainability, inclusiveness, and economic resilience, drawing on international best practices and expertise from organizations like the World Economic Forum, IMD, World Bank Group, OECD, UNCTAD, and UNCITRAL. Through the Saudi Center for Competitiveness and Business, the Kingdom has undertaken around 1,000 economic and development reforms and initiatives across 16 sectors, from legislative to technological areas.

Reforms have included strengthening the legal framework through new laws and regulations (1,200 in total), simplifying business procedures, consolidating government procedures for businesses under a single platform, redesigning 100 investment journeys, and converting over 600 licenses into instant licenses. The reforms also extended to education, healthcare, tourism, data, and other priority sectors.

The Kingdom has established mechanisms to monitor global competitiveness, tracking five major global competitiveness reports and indicators through the Saudi Center for Competitiveness and Business. Stakeholders, including the public, government entities, and private sector, provide feedback on proposed regulations via the Istitlaa public consultation platform, and participate in stakeholder meetings and workshops to identify challenges and propose necessary reforms.

The implementation of reforms is verified through mystery-shopper exercises, surveys, and beneficiary opinion polls, assessing compliance and identifying remaining challenges. Saudi Arabia's global competitiveness rankings have risen as a result of these reforms and initiatives, ranking third among G20 countries and 13th globally in the 2026 IMD World Competitiveness Yearbook, among other top global positions.