{"id":1128,"date":"2026-06-10T13:46:21","date_gmt":"2026-06-10T13:46:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=1128"},"modified":"2026-06-10T13:46:21","modified_gmt":"2026-06-10T13:46:21","slug":"saudi-economy-redraws-ambitions-going-local-is-the-new-buzz-phrase","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=1128","title":{"rendered":"Saudi economy redraws ambitions\u2014\u2018going local\u2019 is the new\u00a0buzz phrase\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Last week, it\u00a0emerged\u00a0that the Public Investment Fund (PIF), the engine behind Saudi Vision 2030, was\u00a0replacing foreign CEOs\u00a0with local hires as part of its strategy to tighten spending and shift its focus towards domestic projects.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Read more Current price of oil as of June 10, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n

The Financial\u00a0Times,<\/em> citing an adviser to the Saudi government, reported that the changes came after the fund conducted a review of all its portfolio companies, including how they will reallocate spending in the coming years.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n
\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

It follows on from the release in April of PIF\u2019s\u00a0new 2026-2030 strategy which it\u00a0said\u00a0\u201cmarks a natural evolution as PIF moves from a period of rapid growth and acceleration to a new phase of sustained value creation\u201d.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Earlier this week, Semafor<\/em> reported that\u00a0Neom\u2019s\u00a0budget for 2026\u00a0to 2030 includes 60 billion riyals ($16 billion) in\u00a0anticipated\u00a0payments to contractors to\u00a0terminate\u00a0long-term agreements.\u00a0<\/p>\n

That means, for a time,\u00a0the Saudi government will spend\u00a0more money on cancelling parts of the futuristic desert city\u00a0gigaproject\u00a0than it will spend building them.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Dismissed by some as\u00a0\u201cmega-gimmicks\u201d,\u00a0many of Saudi\u2019s most high-profile projects\u2014including core elements of Neom\u2014have already been\u00a0watered down, frozen or cancelled.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

The scaling down of the Neom project came after a strategic review which has led to layoffs and a corporate restructuring.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The retrenchment of Saudi\u2019s\u00a0giga\u00a0projects has been driven primarily by fiscal pressures. Riyadh projects a\u00a0\u00a0for 2026, following significant shortfalls in 2025.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n
\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Speaking to reporters as part of a briefing in Riyadh at the end of last year,\u00a0Finance Minister\u202fMohammed Al-Jadaan\u202fsaid: \u201cWe have no ego\u2014absolutely no ego,\u201d adding\u00a0that the kingdom is willing to defer or cancel projects within its Vision 2030 program \u201cwithout blinking\u201d if they no longer make economic sense or fail to deliver value.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Concluding its visit to Saudi Arabia last week, the IMF said: \u201cLooking ahead, priorities include improving the business environment, deepening capital markets, supporting small and medium enterprises, aligning education with\u00a0labor\u00a0market needs, strengthening governance, and scaling AI adoption while mitigating associated risks.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Saudi economy redraws ambitions – \u2018going local\u2019 is the new buzz phrase<\/h3>\n

The IMF\u2019s decision last week to <\/span>revise Saudi\u2019s GDP<\/span> for this year down to 2% from its 3.1% forecast in April was probably <\/span>inevitable<\/span> given<\/span> the widespread retrenchment currently underway in the kingdom. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Read more Visa\u2019s CFO downplays the importance of stablecoin and agentic commerce to the U.S. payments giant\u2014at least in the short term<\/a><\/p>\n

Last week, it emerged that the Public Investment Fund (PIF), the engine behind Saudi Vision 2030, was <\/span>replacing foreign CEOs<\/span> with local hires as part of its strategy to tighten spending and shift its focus towards domestic projects.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The Financial Times, citing an adviser to the Saudi government, reported that the changes came after the fund conducted a review of all its portfolio companies, including how they will reallocate spending in the coming years.<\/span><\/p>\n

It follows on from the release in April of PIF\u2019s<\/span> new 2026-2030 strategy which it said \u201cmarks a natural evolution as PIF moves from a period of rapid growth and acceleration to a new phase of sustained value creation\u201d. <\/span><\/p>\n

\n
\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Earlier this week, Semafor reported that <\/span>Neom\u2019s<\/span> budget for 2026 to 2030 includes 60 billion riyals ($16 billion) in anticipated payments to contractors to terminate long-term agreements.<\/span><\/p>\n

That means<\/span>, for a time, the Saudi government will spend more money on cancelling parts of the futuristic desert city gigaproject than it will spend building them. <\/span><\/p>\n

Dismissed by some as \u201cmega-gimmick<\/span>s<\/span>\u201d<\/span>,<\/span> many of Saudi\u2019s most high-profile projects<\/span>\u2014<\/span>i<\/span>ncluding core elements of Neom<\/span>\u2014<\/span>have already been <\/span>watered down<\/span>, frozen or cancelled. <\/span><\/p>\n

The scaling down of the Neom project came after a strategic review which has led to layoffs and a corporate restructuring.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

The retrenchment of Saudi\u2019s giga projects has been driven primarily by fiscal pressures. Riyadh projects a <\/span> for 2026, following significant shortfalls in 2025.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Speaking to reporters as part of a briefing in Riyadh at the end of last year,<\/span>Finance Minister\u202fMohammed Al-Jadaan\u202fsaid: \u201cWe have no ego\u2014absolutely no ego,\u201d adding that the kingdom is willing to defer or cancel projects within its Vision 2030 program \u201cwithout blinking\u201d if they no longer make economic sense or fail to deliver value.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\n
\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Concluding its visit to Saudi Arabia last week, the IMF said: \u201cLooking ahead, priorities include improving the business environment, deepening capital markets, supporting small and medium enterprises, aligning education with labor market needs, strengthening governance, and scaling AI adoption while mitigating associated risks.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Read more \u2018The circulatory system isn\u2019t working.\u2019 Goldman on what\u2019s really wrong with private markets<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

After a decade of dizzying investments, Saudi Arabia is now focused on domestic priorities.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1127,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[232],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1128","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-saudi-arabia"],"yoast_head":"\nSaudi economy redraws ambitions\u2014\u2018going local\u2019 is the new\u00a0buzz phrase\u00a0 - Cross Country Moving Team<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=1128\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Saudi economy redraws ambitions\u2014\u2018going local\u2019 is the new\u00a0buzz phrase\u00a0 - Cross Country Moving Team\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"After a decade of dizzying investments, Saudi Arabia is now focused on domestic priorities.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=1128\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Cross Country Moving Team\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-06-10T13:46:21+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/?p=1128#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/?p=1128\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/1b8121bfb9a1c55d1fff3fca675fceaa\"},\"headline\":\"Saudi economy redraws ambitions\u2014\u2018going local\u2019 is the new\u00a0buzz phrase\u00a0\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-10T13:46:21+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/?p=1128\"},\"wordCount\":773,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/?p=1128#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/d1c7197aea7227bbef3ca7a78961e584.webp\",\"articleSection\":[\"Saudi Arabia\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/?p=1128#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/?p=1128\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/?p=1128\",\"name\":\"Saudi economy redraws ambitions\u2014\u2018going local\u2019 is the new\u00a0buzz phrase\u00a0 - Cross Country Moving Team\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/?p=1128#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/?p=1128#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/d1c7197aea7227bbef3ca7a78961e584.webp\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-10T13:46:21+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/1b8121bfb9a1c55d1fff3fca675fceaa\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/?p=1128#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/?p=1128\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/?p=1128#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/d1c7197aea7227bbef3ca7a78961e584.webp\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/d1c7197aea7227bbef3ca7a78961e584.webp\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":600},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/?p=1128#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Saudi economy redraws ambitions\u2014\u2018going local\u2019 is the new\u00a0buzz phrase\u00a0\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Cross Country Moving Team\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/1b8121bfb9a1c55d1fff3fca675fceaa\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Saudi economy redraws ambitions\u2014\u2018going local\u2019 is the new\u00a0buzz phrase\u00a0 - Cross Country Moving Team","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=1128","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Saudi economy redraws ambitions\u2014\u2018going local\u2019 is the new\u00a0buzz phrase\u00a0 - Cross Country Moving Team","og_description":"After a decade of dizzying investments, Saudi Arabia is now focused on domestic priorities.","og_url":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=1128","og_site_name":"Cross Country Moving Team","article_published_time":"2026-06-10T13:46:21+00:00","author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=1128#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=1128"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/#\/schema\/person\/1b8121bfb9a1c55d1fff3fca675fceaa"},"headline":"Saudi economy redraws ambitions\u2014\u2018going local\u2019 is the new\u00a0buzz phrase\u00a0","datePublished":"2026-06-10T13:46:21+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=1128"},"wordCount":773,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=1128#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/d1c7197aea7227bbef3ca7a78961e584.webp","articleSection":["Saudi Arabia"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=1128#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=1128","url":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=1128","name":"Saudi economy redraws ambitions\u2014\u2018going local\u2019 is the new\u00a0buzz phrase\u00a0 - Cross Country Moving Team","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=1128#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=1128#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/d1c7197aea7227bbef3ca7a78961e584.webp","datePublished":"2026-06-10T13:46:21+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/#\/schema\/person\/1b8121bfb9a1c55d1fff3fca675fceaa"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=1128#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=1128"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=1128#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/d1c7197aea7227bbef3ca7a78961e584.webp","contentUrl":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/d1c7197aea7227bbef3ca7a78961e584.webp","width":1200,"height":600},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=1128#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Saudi economy redraws ambitions\u2014\u2018going local\u2019 is the new\u00a0buzz phrase\u00a0"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/","name":"Cross Country Moving Team","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/#\/schema\/person\/1b8121bfb9a1c55d1fff3fca675fceaa","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com"],"url":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1128","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1128"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1128\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1127"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1128"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1128"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1128"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}