Saudi Arabia was shifting from a tribal society towards a society in which the family and the individual play a central role, said Hoda Al-Helaissi, member of the Saudi Shura Council.
She added that Saudi Vision 2030, which was developed by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defense, “meets the aspirations of young people in Saudi Arabia, because he speaks their language.”
Al-Helaissi presented an overview of the developments in Saudi Arabia under Vision 2030 at the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) in London.
She stressed that reforms, which cover the sectors of business, education, entertainment and others, were moving fast, due to the “pressure exerted by the youths, who represent around 70 percent of the Kingdom’s population.”
Change “must come from society, not from outside”, al-Helaissi told Asharq Al-Awsat, underlining the importance of empowering women to actively contribute to the development of the country.
“Everything we are doing today is part of the development process that began since the education of women in the 1960s, and during the last 80 years in general after Saudi Arabia benefited from the financial resources that accompanied the production of oil to build and develop infrastructure in the Kingdom,” she noted.
Al-Helaissi said that the Crown Prince’s visit to London - and the economic and cultural events held on its sidelines – represented an opportunity to open the doors for trade and investments between the two countries.
“It is time to learn from each other, keep an open dialogue and communicate more,” she stated.
Commenting on the wrong image in which some foreign media platforms portray Saudi Arabia, the Shura member attributed the reason to two factors: lack of communication about Saudi policies and journalists filling the vacuum with lies that become facts in public eyes.
