Saudi Arabia’s $925 billion Public Investment Fund is preparing to unveil a fresh five-year strategy this week, signaling its most decisive pivot yet in the kingdom’s economic overhaul under Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, according to people familiar with the plans.
The new roadmap, covering 2026 to 2030, has already been quietly introduced to select investors and strategic partners during meetings held alongside a major conference in Riyadh earlier this week. Those briefings offered a clear message: priorities are shifting, and spectacle is giving way to substance.
Industry, minerals, artificial intelligence and tourism are set to take prominence, while several headline-grabbing mega-projects are being scaled back, reworked or placed under review. Among them are ultra-ambitious developments that once defined Vision 2030’s futuristic ambition, including sprawling urban concepts and architecturally bold landmarks that have struggled with rising costs and slower timelines.
People familiar with the strategy say the recalibration reflects growing pressure on public finances as oil prices remain below levels needed to bankroll every original plan at full speed. Attracting capital from major global asset managers is expected to become a central pillar of the new approach, reducing the state’s funding burden while keeping long-term goals intact.
This marks the sharpest adjustment so far to Vision 2030, which for nearly a decade has leaned heavily on eye-catching projects designed to rebrand the kingdom overnight. Several of those initiatives are now under reassessment, following delays and cost overruns. One of the most recent casualties was a proposed cube-shaped skyscraper in Riyadh, which has been suspended.
Government officials have publicly acknowledged the need for flexibility, stressing that timelines and scopes will be adjusted where necessary rather than pursued at any cost.
Nowhere is the change more visible than at NEOM, the Red Sea development long positioned as the crown jewel of Saudi Arabia’s future vision. Under the updated strategy, NEOM is expected to pivot away from its earlier focus on tourism-heavy, futuristic cityscapes and toward renewable energy and industrial development. Green hydrogen, solar and wind power, and data centres designed to leverage coastal cooling conditions are moving to the forefront.
That shift was reflected this week at a private-sector forum in Riyadh, where NEOM’s displays highlighted energy and industrial ventures, while once-prominent urban concepts were notably absent.
Taken together, the new direction suggests a more grounded phase for Saudi Arabia’s transformation drive—less about headline-grabbing architecture, more about building sectors that can deliver returns, resilience and global investment at scale.
