By Sunil John

This year, the prestigious Cannes Film Festival opened with a film backed by Saudi Arabia. Jeanne du Barry, the French biographical drama starring Johnny Depp about the rise of the daughter of an impoverished seamstress through the Court of Louis XV, might seem an unconventional choice for a country as conservative as Saudi Arabia, but it is further evidence of the Kingdom’s growing soft power.

Saudi Arabia will again be the talk of Tinseltown later this month, when the Gerard Butler-starrer Kandahar, shot in the picturesque AlUla region, opens in cinemas.

Saudi Arabia’s foray into film is the latest chapter in a national economic narrative that has ventured into sectors as diverse as tourism, music, the arts, sports, clean energy, sustainable cities, and artificial intelligence. The perception of Saudi Arabia as an oil-dependent economy has become decidedly old-fashioned.

 

Of course, oil revenues, which topped US$326 billion in 2022, the most since 2012, have supercharged the economic diversification and reform outlined in Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 strategy. One of 19 member countries of the so-called Trillion-dollar club, Saudi Arabia is on track to double the size of its economy by the end of the decade.

Having operated in the Kingdom for over two decades, ASDA’A BCW has advised many of Saudi Arabia’s leading entities, including those of the Public Investment Fund (PIF), one of the world’s largest sovereign wealth funds. As a catalyst of Saudi Arabia’s diversification drive, PIF has pledged to increase the share of international assets in its portfolio from 10 per cent today, to 50 per cent by 2030.

The focus on youth is unmistakably evident in all of the government’s actions – the opening up of the economy, the innovative music concerts, the number of new entertainment attractions and cinemas, and, of course, the focus on upskilling and creating jobs for young people.

The recent US$4.9 billion acquisition of California-based gaming leader Scopely Inc by PIF-backed Savvy Games Group, further illustrates how closely Saudi Arabia’s investment strategy is tracking the behaviours and consumption habits of the post-Millennial generation.

This was the third-largest equity investment in a foreign company by a Saudi-based investor, surpassing PIF’s US$3.6 billion investment in Uber Technologies in 2016, another disruptive tech company leading the new shared-services economy.

Such transactions also reflect the growing entrepreneurial spirit of Saudi investors, who have now emerged as one of the world’s most important, and prolific, sources of venture capital.

An estimated 70 per cent of the private equity deals by Saudi-based investors last year involved venture capital, underscoring both the ambition and the risk appetite of Saudi Arabia’s leadership today.

The Kingdom’s transformation from an oil & gas swing producer into an economic powerhouse is clear, and, crucially, it is one that young Saudis endorse.

The 14^th annual ASDA’A BCW Arab Youth Survey, the largest of its kind study of the region’s largest demographic, revealed that young people in Saudi Arabia are increasingly optimistic about their future.
They trust their leadership to do the right thing. An astonishing 98% of young Saudi men and women say that their voice matters, and that the government has the right policies in place to address their concerns on core issues such as education, job creation and economic growth.

Optimism about Vision 2030 among Saudi youth has increased year on year. Almost all the respondents (99%) to last year’s survey said they were confident the road map would secure a stronger economy. And 97 per cent said the country was going in the right direction, while nine in 10 said they believed they would have a better life than their parents.

The Saudi government’s recent private sector reforms also received an enthusiastic thumbs up from young Saudis, with 96 per cent saying they that approved measures encouraging more private sector involvement in the economy. According to the research, 93 per cent said they strongly supported or somewhat supported reforms encouraging Saudi citizens to play a bigger role in business.

At ASDA’A BCW, we have always believed that to understand the Arab world, we must first understand the hearts and minds of its largest demographic, its youth. Our survey’s findings show that Saudi youth fully support their country’s reform agenda and are optimistic about their future.

Such enthusiasm for change in a country traditionally viewed as modest and inward-looking illustrates the value of writing a new communications playbook for Saudi Arabia. This will fairly and accurately present its people to the world today and give them the starring role they clearly deserve.

Sunil John is the President – MENA of BCW and founder of ASDA’A BCW

Published in June 2023 in Campaign Middle East