RIYADH — The Council of Economic and Development Affairs (CEDA) launched the (#Quality of #Life Program 2020), one of the Vision Realization Programs 2030, which was approved by the Council of Ministers. The program is in continuance to the operational programs that were launched to support the achievement of Vision 2030, as well as, to strengthen the cornerstones in the Kingdom.

The implementation plan of Quality of Life Program 2020 reflects the vision of the government of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman and Crown Prince Muhammad Bin Salman, deputy premier and minister of defense, to prepare the required environment to improve individuals and families’ lifestyle.

In addition, the program has been launched to promote new options that enhance participation in cultural, entertainment, sports and other appropriate activities that contribute to quality of life, job creation, as well as, to encourage investment opportunities, and diversifying economic activities, while enhancing the status of Saudi cities in the ranking of the best cities in the world.

The launch of the #Quality of #Life Program 2020 follows the efforts of Crown Prince Muhammad, chairman of CEDA, to achieve the objectives of the Kingdom’s Vision 2030. Prince Muhammad is keen to make the Kingdom's economy more prosperous and the Saudi society more vibrant.

Total expenditures in the sectors related to the #Quality of #Life program 2020 reaches to SR130 billion ($34.6 billion), of which SR74.5 billion ($19.8 billion) is the total direct investments in the program. The government capital expenditure is more than SR50 billion ($13.3 billion) until 2020, and investments available to the private sector around SR23.7 billion ($6.3 billion) for the same period through 220 initiatives adopted by the program up to 2020.

This does not include all forms of capital expenditure in major projects Such as Al Qiddiya Project, the Red Sea Project, Al-Dariyah Gate Project, Historical Jeddah Project, Royal Commission for Al-Ula and other projects, in addition to all related projects of the private sector, with total investments exceeding SR86 billion ($23 billion).

The #Quality of #Life Program 2020 aims to achieve non-oil Gross Domestic Production growth in the related sectors by 20% per year until 2020, and the contribution of local content in the relevant sectors by 67% until 2020. The program indicators within macroeconomic measures up to 2020 includes creating more than 346,000 jobs and generated non-oil revenues of SR1.9 billion ($0.5 billion).

Saudi cities within the Top 100 Cities in the World:

The overarching goal of the #Quality of #Life Program 2020 is to include at least three Saudi cities in the list of the top 100 cities in the world to live in by 2030. While the overall aspiration refers to three cities in the Kingdom, this program pursues to the improvement of the lifestyle of citizens and residents throughout Saudi Arabia in general, through the development of different lifestyles, improvement of infrastructure, and the expansion of various sectors concern the wellbeing of citizens.

Attractive Investment Opportunities:

#Quality of #Life 2020 aspires to provide economic and investment opportunities for sustainable growth and development. Creative industries have proved to be key drivers of economic growth around the world. There are many opportunities for these sectors to thrive in the Kingdom; number of funding models will be developed in order to stimulate the private sector to invest, in both capital expenditures and operating expenses.

The program encourages the private sector and foreign investors to invest in many vital markets related to improving the quality of life. The main objective of the program is to increase the involvement of the private sector in the development of the strategy by improving participation in vital areas that require high capital expenditures, and the return on investment is initially low, encouraging private sector investment in the future.

In addition, the program provides all necessary (non-financial) factors to reduce investment risks. This is by removing all non-financial obstacles limiting private sector participation in quality of life sectors, such as regulatory risks, legal frameworks, etc. The program ensures that the regulatory and governance framework is updated and that legal texts are updated to support investment in sectors related to program scope.

The provision of incentive packages to compensate for gaps in profitability in some sectors was also taken into account to stimulate private sector participation, while ensuring effective and proactive management of private sector participation opportunities by identifying and linking investors and investment opportunities in all sectors.

Program pillars

The program relies on basic pillars that support the improvement of infrastructure and lifestyle with other enablers to reach the desired goal:

• Developing strong infrastructure in the cities of the Kingdom

• Provide comprehensive services to the population to meet their living needs

• Provide a social framework that enables citizens and residents to interact

• Develop a comprehensive lifestyle infrastructure

• Provide high quality and varied lifestyle options

•Motivate people to interact, and ensure their participation through activities and events in lifestyle and society

• Determine the regulatory framework required to enable quality of life in all categories

• Establish funding mechanisms, including public-private partnership models, incentives to the private sector, and public investment to facilitate private sector participation

• Communicate with all stakeholders (citizens, private sector, etc.) to present the progress of the program in all dimensions.

Goals and Ambitions

The program ensures the implementation of its specific objectives in different regions of the Kingdom, to meet the desires diversity of all social segments. The program has been carefully evaluated the regions to ensure accurate allocation of projects. The design of the necessary options and infrastructure in the 13 regions of the Kingdom has taken into consideration the population factor, average household income, geography, climate, population preferences and the required infrastructure.

Given the nature of the program, it contributes to a wide range of goals and aspirations set out in Vision 2030. 23 quality of life Program objectives were identified, including four objectives directly related to the concept of lifestyle:

• Promote the exercise of sports activities in society

• Achieve excellence in several sports regionally and globally

• Develop and diversify entertainment opportunities to meet the needs of the population

• Developing Saudi contribution to arts and culture

Supporting Sports Activities:

The program uses educational institutions and sport clubs to promote sports activities in the community by diversifying activities and facilitating the access to various sports services. In addition to, upgrading the infrastructure available for sports activities, enhance the audience experience during sporting events, which reflects positively on the popularity of sports in the Kingdom.

The program aims to provide 492 suitable places for sport as well as increasing the utilization of sports facilities from 8% to 55%. It also aims to contribute to the distinction of Saudi sport globally, initiatively, by preparing number of elite athletes in the Kingdom and improve their performance to participate effectively in the Olympic Games.

In the context of school sports, the program promotes the athletic participation of girls on school scale. The program aims to 325,000 girls participating in physical education classes, qualifying 7,500 teachers and preparing 1500 schools with GYMs.

Different Entertainment Options:

The program contributes to the development and diversification of entertainment opportunities in the Kingdom in order to provide various activities to suit all society segments in different regions. To achieve this goal, the program encourages the private sector and foreign investors to play a major role in the construction of entertainment facilities. The Program seeks to create a water park, 3 theme parks and 16 family entertainment centers by 2020.

Development of Contribution to Arts and Culture:

The program also promotes the Kingdom's contribution to arts and culture throughout the elevation and development of seven cultural and artistic fields (visual arts, performing arts, filmmaking, poetry, design and national heritage). By focusing on refining the talents of artists and amateurs, increasing and improving the quality of domestic production, and enhancing the Kingdom's international presence in the arts and culture. In this context, the Program pursues the establishment of an island for arts and culture in Jeddah, 45 cinemas, 16 theaters, 42 libraries, and the Royal Arts Complex in Riyadh by 2020 to promote arts and culture sector in Kingdom.

Realizing the Vision of the Kingdom 2030:

The objectives of the #Quality of #Life Program 2020 directly related to the realization of the Kingdom's Vision 2030, and its purpose is to influence several indicators of the Kingdom's Vision 2030 in general. There are many indicators for the program, includes sports, sports excellence, sports revenues, entertainment capacity, Kingdom's contribution to arts and culture, entertainment and culture revenues, which is in relation to entertainment and infrastructure levels. The indicators of the Kingdom's Vision 2030 relates to employment sustainability in the private sector, increasing domestic product, the contributing to local content, and increasing non-governmental investment.

Enabling oversight of implementation and effective follow-up:

The CEDA is monitoring the implementation of the #Quality of #Life Program 2020 plans. The monitoring takes place by following approved governance that includes clear mechanisms following up the achievement of the objectives and indicators of the program. A number of specialized agencies have been established at the government level, The National Center for Performance Measurement, the Strategic Management Office, the Bureau of Spending Rationalization, the Non-Oil Revenue Development Unit and the Local Content and Private Sector Development Unit.

All this aims to formulate strategies and set the goals, creating programs, monitoring the achievements, and managing projects. This contributed to supporting the development and economic decision-making process through close liaison between all ministries concerned with economic, financial, social and development issues. Recently, the Board has approved the strategic objectives of "Vision 2030" to establish measurable frameworks, benchmarks, and to follow the progress of plans and operational Programs continuously and effectively.

A clear accountability mechanism has been identified, along with program follow-up and direct, indirect strategic objectives. In addition to understanding and managing, the relationship between the various objectives through program committees chaired by ministers and members of different relevant agencies. Their performance is monitored by the Economic Affairs and Development Council Supervision, continuous evaluation, and escalation to the competent authorities whenever required. — SG/SPA