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Abdulaziz Al-Suwayed
Al Hayat
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The title of this article was taken from the title of a two-volume 600-page study written by Abdulaziz Ibrahim Al-Haqbani, an economic expert and a businessman. Issued in 2010, the study explores and forecasts the Kingdom’s economic future as well as the challenges and solutions across different sectors, with emphasis on energy as the main source of income and a vital resource for the global economy.
The study warns against the excessive consumption of energy and emphasizes global trends in terms of different modes of investment in energy. Al-Haqbani suggests different solutions. He also published “Making History: Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Revolution of Renewable Energy” in 2007.
In 2008 during a workshop on Future Kingdom 2025 held at the Council of Saudi Chambers, Al-Haqbani issued a warning about the danger of the over-consumption of energy locally and the challenges that the local economy will encounter as a result of such excessive consumption. He described the challenges as frightening and insurmountable. He said that local consumption doubles every 7-10 years. According to his forecasts, the Kingdom will exhaust its oil and gas reserves by 2030. Note that the writer made this forecast in 2008.
The main points of “Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in 2075” can be summed up as follows. First, the Saudi economy survives on energy as its main source of income, which means that energy will be pivotal in the future progress of the Kingdom’s economy and it will also provide the biggest challenge and threat to the nation’s stability.
Second, the world is going through many changes due to the reduction of oil production and the initial attempts to produce non-traditional oil. This reduction will cause political pressure and requires non-traditional policies and strategies to deal with it. Continuous changes and political/economic fluctuations will be the main feature of the Kingdom’s future economy.
Third, the world’s interest in investing in non-traditional oil and making legislation for it will increase, which, according to the writer, will have repercussions for the Kingdom and pose challenges to the local economy.
Fourth, the Kingdom will have to cut subsidies significantly and this act in itself will cause an economic crisis.
