We dream and we achieve: the slogan of the 93rd Saudi National Day
On September 23 of each year, Saudi citizens in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and abroad celebrate their country’s National Day, to commemorate the anniversary of the unification of the Kingdom by King Abdulaziz Al Saud in 1932.
The founder and unifier of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia was born in Riyadh in 1876, the son of King Saud bin Faisal Al Saud, who was the ruler of the region at the time. Prince Abdulaziz began his career in public life in 1899 after the death of his father. In 1902, he led a military campaign to reclaim his hometown of Riyadh from foreign occupation, and then led other campaigns to liberate other regions of Saudi Arabia.
In 1932, Prince Abdulaziz announced the unification of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, becoming the first king of the Kingdom, and the name of the state was then changed from the Kingdom of Hijaz and Najd to the new name that continues until the present day, which is the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
King Abdulaziz Al Saud formed a new political and social system based on Islamic law. King Abdulaziz died in 1953, but thanks to him the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia had entered an era of social, economic and political prosperity, becoming one of the largest countries in the Arab world in terms of economic, political and cultural size.
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has reached an era of developmental, cultural and tourism modernity, thanks to the initiatives and changes that the country is currently witnessing within the framework of the ambitious “Vision 2030” plan, which was launched by His Royal Highness Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, Prime Minister, in 2016, and which was blessed by the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, so that it became a road map that enhances the Kingdom’s strengths, which are its strategic location, its investment strength, and its position in the Arab and Islamic worlds.
This transformation journey first began, passing through 3 stages. The first one focused on changing the mental image, enhancing efficiency, and laying the foundations with an empowerment from the government, and playing a major role in policies and their implementation. The Kingdom reaped many of the fruits of that stage, and now it is in the second stage, maximising the impact of the vision to move to the third stage, which will focus on continuity and on achieving sustainable results.
Anyone who follows with interest the development and cultural renewal that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is currently witnessing, especially in light of the “Vision 2030” plan, realises that the Kingdom and its people are living in an unprecedented period, competing against time towards development, growth and progress in all areas of life.
Saudi Vision 2030 has laid strong foundations for success. It began implementing unprecedented reforms that included the public sector and all social and economic aspects. Its results are clear in empowering Saudi women, as the annual report of Saudi Vision 2030 for the year 2022 revealed an increase in the economic participation rate of Saudi females from 17% in 2017 to 36% in 2022. Furthermore, the results are clearly shown in strengthening the Kingdom’s role in the group of twenty of the world’s largest economies (G20), and launching investment projects aimed at diversifying the Saudi economy and preparing for the post-oil era, foremost of which is the implementation of huge urban projects, such as the unique future city of NEOM, which aims to facilitate the life of the Saudi citizen while preserving the environment at the same time, by relying on green energy and eliminating harmful carbon emissions.
It is worth noting that Saudi Arabia launched its green initiative in 2021, to increase vegetation cover, reduce carbon emissions, and combat pollution. The Saudi Green Initiative includes planting 10 billion trees inside the Kingdom over the coming decades, which is equivalent to rehabilitating approximately 40 million hectares of degraded land. This is a 12-fold increase over the current tree covers. The Kingdom will also work to increase the proportion of the reserves to more than 30% of its total land area, equivalent to approximately 600 thousand square kilometres, in addition to launching a number of ambitious initiatives to protect the marine and coastal environment.
Moreover, the Kingdom introduced the Green Middle East Initiative, which was announced by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in 2021 as well, with the aim of contributing to the efforts to combat climate change by increasing vegetation cover in Middle Eastern countries, reducing carbon emissions, combating pollution and land degradation, as well as preserving marine life. Within the framework of the initiative, the Kingdom will work with a number of Arab countries to plant an additional 40 billion trees in the Middle East, as part of a programme that aims to plant 50 billion trees, which is the largest reforestation program in the world.
On the political side, the Kingdom has become a peacemaker, referred to in every forum, as it was able, through its distinguished international relations with all parties to make decisions and present initiatives, which contributed to taking great steps in combatting and refuting terrorism, and spreading the culture of peace, tolerance and dialogue among peoples, as well as bringing the views of parties closer together. The Kingdom recently achieved a long-term armistice in the Yemeni conflict, as Saudi mediation efforts to resolve the Yemeni crisis led to a meeting between the conflicting parties in Riyadh and an agreement on a road map in order to reach a peaceful and sustainable solution in Yemen, which can achieve security and prosperity for the Yemeni people.
Sensing its humanitarian role towards the world, inspired by its message of preserving human dignity, and based on the teachings of the true Islamic religion, the Kingdom has devoted great attention to providing relief to the distressed and helping the needy, preserving human life, dignity, and health, extending a helping hand, and providing support, donating, and giving aid to individuals and brotherly and friendly countries, through its relief institutions and charitable platforms.
As we wrote before, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia envisions Riyadh Expo 2030, details HERE.