Ibrahim Muhammad Badawood

Al Madina

 

Allah the Almighty has bestowed so many blessings on our land; at the top of the list of blessings is that He chose it to be the cradle of Islam and the land of the Two Holy Mosques.



We have been blessed with oil, which has helped our country take great strides in development in all fields. The development of our country relies heavily on oil.



Economic experts have for many years warned against largely depending on oil as the main source of income and as the only means for generating energy.



The current consumption rates of oil will not enable the Kingdom to export any of its oil over the next 20 years because it will consume all oil in generating energy.



The main source of income in the country will be disrupted and halted. In fact, the actions taken so far to deal with this potential problem have been slow.



Moreover, the dangers imposed by this problem are overlooked and only stressed and given attention to when a global economic crisis takes place or oil prices go down.



Personally speaking, I believe our country has many non-oil-based resources, the main one being its excellent human resources that can provide solutions and alternatives to oil.



Let us look at the economies of some countries that were impacted by wars but stood on their feet once again and reemerged even stronger.



They rose like rockets without relying on natural resources such as oil and have catapulted to the forefront of global economies.



Let us not forget that we have tourism and heritage and we can use them as alternative resources. Saudi Commission for Tourism and Antiquities (SCTA) President Prince Sultan Bin Salman recently said, “Tourism and heritage can be effective economic alternatives in the future in addition to oil, which we cannot rely on as the only economic source.”



I am not only talking about religious tourism, but the archeological sites that have religious significance. We have so many sites all over the country that need to be rehabilitated and developed to become full-fledged tourist attractions that can bolster our national economy. We should continue working on improving our country and tapping all of its resources.