The project will explore Saudi Arabia’s social support towards realising the kingdom’s vision 2030 through economic diversification into a symbolic economy. The country was considered very religious and an unwelcoming place for tourism in the past. Tourism in the kingdom (Saudi Arabia) was, in the past, primarily based on religious pilgrimages due to the sacred cities of Mecca and Medina. However, this has changed as the government decided to open the country and allow tourism in the Kingdom to realise the Kingdom’s vision 2030. The vision will transfer the kingdom’s economy from heavily relying on fossils and petroleum fuel towards a more sustainable budget.
Moreover, the symbolic economy (tourism, culture, media, and entertainment) will significantly support the vision’s realization within the set time. The Saudi Arabian government has been spending enormous money to change the public perception of the country, mainly through the media. The administration aims to promote the country’s acceptability by the global population. Hosting international conferences and events to attract more tourists and investors to the country is another strategy utilized by the nation. As such, the present work’s research question seeks to show the relation between symbolic economy and traditional society, and what would be the challenges, socially and politically, towards opening the country.
The main aims of the project are to:
- Examine the current situation of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia concerning opening the country, defining what has been done so far, and their plans in the future.
- Understanding the implications towards the country transformation (economically, socially, educationally, and politically).
- Identifying the challenges that need to be overcome to realize the Kingdom 2030 vision.
His deputy crown prince Mohammad Bin Salman (MBS), announced the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia 2030 Vision on the 25th of April 2016. The 2030 vision is set to transform the kingdom income from a nation that heavily invests in oil to the knowledge economy through diversifying its income into investing into other sectors. Such sectors include education, tourism, entertainment, culture, agriculture, and other non-oil segments. Saudi Arabia’s 2030 vision is built around three pillars: a vibrant society, a thriving economy, and an ambitious nation. The first pillar; vibrant society, allows society members to live in harmony by establishing a balance between the local Saudi traditions and accepting new concepts and ideas from the international communities. The strategy also seeks to promote the local citizens’ pride in their national identity and cultural heritage. Furthermore, the first pillar aims to help Saudi Arabians to enjoy a good life in a beautiful environment protected by caring families and supported by an empowering social and healthcare system.
A thriving economy is Saudi Arabia’s second pillar and targets the development of a robust ecosystem that can significantly grow the kingdom economy through diversifying the kingdom financial sources. The strategic purpose is to help the kingdom introduce more non-oil dependent investments, leading to increased (independent) job opportunities. The third pillar, ‘ambitious nation,’ is built on the desire to realize an effective, transparent, accountable, and enabling high-performing government. Saudi Arabia is the largest oil exporter in the international arena. The kingdom further has massive amounts of oil reserves that remain unexploited. About forty per cent of the kingdom’s GDP comes from oil exports, while another forty per cent is made from the private sector (Jabeen and Khan 212). In other words, there is a heavy reliance on oil as money from the industry comprises almost half of the national income.
However, the Saudi Arabia government recognises that the oil-dependent economy’s sustainability is rapidly wasting relative to earlier days. The realization is the reason behind the administration’s enactment of Vision 2030 in 2016. The vision wants to diversify the kingdom’s economic position, where it will no longer depend on oil as its primary source of income. The strategy revolves around shifting focus from oil exports towards a more sustainable form of economy that emphasizes the importance of the private sector (Jabeen and Khan 212). Over relying on the oil sector significantly kills the private unit of investors in the Saudi Arabian region. Above seventy per cent of the employed Saudi Arabians work in state-operated entities that depend on oil. The point that the world now embraces renewable and clean energy sources exposes the kingdom to significant future challenges. Solar, wind, and clean electric power now form the centre of global energy research, emphasising quitting petroleum fuel dependence being very high. The question, therefore, remains whether Saudi Arabia has what it takes to cushion its citizens and economy from the foreseen danger through the adoption of a symbolic economy.
The present dissertation’s work will provide information concerning Saudi Arabia’s preparedness to tap the symbolic economy to avoid the potential economic shock in the future. The nation has a vision meant to be realized by 2030, where the entertainment, media, and tourism sectors will mature to take the kingdom to its independent future. Saudi Arabia’s economic dependence on oil makes the nation highly vulnerable to the changing global oil prices, at times affecting the kingdom’s economy adversely (Noreng 235). A successful development of the symbolic economic subdivision will allow Saudi Arabia to avoid or reduce such adverse fiscal effects, thus making the kingdom more sustainable. The present study will aid in appreciating Saudi Arabian’s potential in the tourism sector and the general prospective of the kingdom’s symbolic economy. Therefore, the work will expand the existing authoritative literature that informs the nation’s strategic moves and their possibilities of succeeding. Through the present study, social scholars will appreciate the impact of specific social factors on the success of the kingdom’s symbolic economy and the different ways to facilitate success.
The dissertation will utilize practical research information to deliver realistic conclusions and suggestions. Therefore, the work is empirical and will use a qualitative research approach to gather and analyse data. A central tenet in the social science discipline concerns the fact that social realities come from people’s creation through social beliefs, norms, values, and practices (León and Breiter 295). The view thus informs the dissertation’s endeavour to study Saudi Arabian social structures and values to test their effectiveness and preparedness to support the intended socio-economic transformation. The research question in this work depicts a constructivism outlook. That is shown by the dissertation’s desire to show how different individuals’ values, roles, and social principles impact the government’s plan.
The dissertation’s purpose of identifying Saudi Arabia’s social reality further constitutes the interpretivism standpoint epistemological-wise. The aspect is in line with the social science discipline, whose primary roles include investigating and explaining social practices and realities, together with their causes (León and Breiter 297). The constructivism and interpretivism assumptions of the dissertation makes qualitative approach the most appropriate methodology to employ (León and Breiter 300). The realization of Saudi Arabia’s vision 2013 depends significantly on the citizens’ cooperation with the government in pushing towards the targeted realities. The vision’s potential to succeed can thus be understood by investigating the mass’s common sense and general perspective regarding the matter. Almost every social scientist in Saudi Arabia is concerned about the nation’s transformation towards realising its bright future. It is in line with such concerns that the current research topic exists.
Undertaking scientific studies involves designing research questions, which further indicate the specific methodological scheme to be utilized for the scientific inquiry. A qualitative research approach will be the most appropriate and, thus, the chosen one for this dissertation’s work. Interviews, literature research, documentary research, and survey will form the specific data collection methods for the research work under the qualitative investigation umbrella. A case study would also form a vital research method for the intended research but will not be used in this case. That is because of the latter approach’s requirement of studying a particular item, say an institution, which often makes generalization hard, other than reducing the study’s room (Berchtold 435). All the other data collection approaches to be used fit the study well. They (the data collection approaches) will help collect diverse and factual data for reliability and practical application. The interviews and surveys will involve key players in the kingdom’s tourism sector, government leaders, and regular citizens, among other relevant parties, including prominent researchers in the affected areas.
The dissertation will combine both structured and unstructured interview questions. Open ended queries will also be utilized to offer more room for explanation of issues where necessary by the interviewee. Interviews offer one of the best ways to undertake social science studies involving a vast population. The approach allows social science research to gather diverse data with the potential to provide a comprehensive perspective on the role of specific social factors on given aspects (Berchtold 438). Interviews give researchers the chance to identify the public’s inner and personal views first-hand. Only local Saudis can express their preparedness and understanding of the 2030 vision and the specific efforts put to aid the government realize such. Seeking the ideas of conspicuously positioned individuals in society through interviews will offer an unmatched chance for the study to collect and analyse reliable and highly informative data. The interviews will particularly look for specific social transformation initiatives, implemented and planned, and how they directly affect the ongoing implementation of the government’s plan. Personal contact and snowballing approaches will be utilized for sampling interviewees for trust and high response rate purposes. Thematic analysis will further be employed to construe patterns and meanings in the data.
Literature research plays a highly significant role in scientific research work. For example, the approach aids in identifying the possible and applicable theoretical approach for a study to implement (Thilakaratne 16). Better still, investigating the existing literary work on a topic leads the scholar(s) to acquire contextual guidance on the scientific work (Nwanzu and Mbanefo 371). The intended research will thus apply the theory of symbolic economy to explain and shed light on the wisdom behind Saudi Arabia’s (symbolic economic) project to diversify its economy for sustainability reasons. Juxtaposing the research-backed necessary elements for a prosperous symbolic economy with the existing situation in the kingdom will stand out as a principal way of realizing the principle’s ability to succeed and take the nation to the anticipated destiny. Hence, the research will look at the availability of the supporting features within the Saudi Arabian kingdom for the successful realization of the set goal. Undertaking such a scientific direction is noteworthy given Saudi Arabia’s historical, social, and political issues that would otherwise make things very hard for the kingdom’s current vision.
Documentary research involves collecting various documents from different sources for utilization during a study. A critical difference between documentary research and the earlier strategy is that literature research involves searching and utilising discipline-related sources that pass some vital research criteria (Thilakaratne 27). On the other hand, documentary research often involves an exhaustive search for all sorts of information concerning the topic under study to gather the general view that promotes an in-depth comprehension of the matter under investigation. During the research, documentary research will mainly look at the existing government policies and records concerning Saudi Arabia’s cultural and social practices. News articles regarding developments concerning the vision, reports by various institutions, and records regarding the same issues and the general cultural transformation in the kingdom will also be vital for the dissertation. The search will look for specific recurring themes in the document to inform the research’s findings, especially on cultural policies’ changes and related issues.
The dissertation’s purpose of exploiting all possible data sources also leads to selecting surveys as an additional data collection strategy. The option will allow the researcher to exceed the standard empirical cases through the use of questionnaires. The questionnaires will be developed according to the established topic guide to ensure the collection of highly relevant data. Officials working in the appropriate governmental, non-governmental, and other social institutions will participate in the survey. Members of the public (regular citizens) will also form part of the survey to ensure inclusivity and comprehensiveness. Nonetheless, the research will apply the survey tactic with the appreciation of time limitations related to the dissertation’s investigations. Other restrictions to be acknowledged during the survey process include the inability to access some of the targeted individuals and documents. The aspect agrees with the standard operations for surveys and other related methodologies. The point that surveys are costly sometimes also pushes the issue of admitting computer-based questionnaires to specific parties exhibiting increased response potential. The practice is essential because of the study’s descriptive nature that never focuses on numerical data that much.
The dissertation will mainly focus on thematic analysis for the data analysis operations. The researcher will investigate the existence of repetitive themes across the data collected using the various methodological strategies. To attain such an initiative, the researcher will note down all the existing themes and how they relate to the kingdom’s social transformation towards the set vision 2030. All the research work will, thus, be guided by a precise topic guide to ensure effectiveness. All arising themes not involved in the original thematic classification will also be considered during the research to attain comprehensiveness on the topic under study.
Conducting research involves significant interaction with people and other personal items. Such necessitates adherence to the set ethical rules in scientific inquiries. Maintaining accountability to the public and all the affected parties result from being ethical during scientific investigations. Ethicalness in research also promotes trust among the researchers and the study population, promoting openness and genuine responses (Martineau 34). The four primary ethical principles touch on the issue of participants’ protection, informed consent, privacy invasion, and deception prevention (Martineau 34). Therefore, the researcher endeavours to set a precise strategy during the research work to ensure ethical operations. Seeking parties’ willingness for recognition in my research report, readiness to participate in the study, and any underlying issue that needs secrecy will be part of the ethical considerations during my research. Vital documents to utilize for this purpose will include consent forms and approval letters. The questionnaires will also ensure anonymity, while the researcher will interact with the study population in the most honest possible ways. Realizing such milestones during the study will be vital for the dissertation work to remain ethical.
Several intellectual sentiments and aspects will constitute the research’s literature. However, the point that most of the dissertation work’s information will be informed by the surveys and investigations to be conducted makes a comprehensive review of the literature significantly hard at this early stage of the proposal. Nonetheless, the following concepts will form crucial elements of the work and are worth reviewing.
The current aspect where nations and kingdoms seek to become globally relevant by sharing their unique cultural elements with the world amounts to cultural diplomacy. González and María define cultural diplomacy as the give-and-take of information, art, ideas, and other (cultural) aspects of a given culture among countries and their citizens to promote mutual appreciation (39). The process can either be a two-way or a one-way ‘exchange’ depending on whether the involved parties conjointly intend to tell their stories. The cultural diplomacy process sees nations share their national languages and policies’ points of view for mutual understanding (González and María 47). However, the emergence of the internet allows different countries and kingdoms to tell their stories to the world without directly engaging with another nation (González and María 49). The whole issue of cultural diplomacy, thus, seeks to offer kingdoms and republics significant ‘soft power’ with the values and culture of a given nation or kingdom serving as an attraction (instead of intimidation) (González and María 59). Saudi Arabia’s vision 2030 targets this goal, making the issue crucial for the research work’s literature review section.
The ‘two approaches’ is a scholarly approach that investigates cultural diplomacy among international players. The approach was devised by Donfried and Gienow-Hecht and looks at the structural and conceptual slants that republics use to realize cultural diplomacy (Demir and Im 2466). The structural tactic observes nations’ strategic organization by investigating aspects like the party in charge, the party assuming the costs involved, and the promotion of state’s interests by various agents (Demir and Im 2469). On the other hand, the conceptual viewpoint investigates the underlying motivations behind the republics’ cultural diplomacy strategies (Eckhardt 26). The approach seeks things such as the desires of states, governments, citizens, and rulers in their efforts to realize familiarity with the other global players exhibiting different cultures (Demir and Im 2472). Prospects such as boosting economic growth and political and cultural recognition globally fall under the conceptual approach (Demir and Im 2475). Understanding these two tactics of cultural diplomacy and the specific one informing Saudi Arabia’s vision will aid significantly in comprehending the necessary cultural transformations for the agenda and whether they are existent in the kingdom.
Saudi Arabia’s vision 2030 is highly pegged on the successful development of a symbolic economy in the kingdom. The term ‘symbolic economy’ is a 1990s economic phrase meaning an economy that is different from the typical industrial or agrarian economies forming the basis of financial sustainability in the past centuries (Morgan 94). As such, the symbolic economy depends mainly on the production of symbols through national sectors such as tourism, media, and entertainment (León and Breiter 301). Countries with established symbolic economies depend on non-material sectors to realize economic vibrancy, mainly through global recognition.
The idea of a symbolic economy also looks at the country’s availability of outstanding aspects that can sell it to the world. Such elements include engaging sports activities, natural sceneries, and renowned broadcasting houses to test the potential of a republic to succeed (Eckhardt 15). Reviewing this topic is, thus, very crucial for the present study. The aspect will cover the role and effectiveness of Saudi Arabia’s tourist spots, the kingdom’s premier league, age demographics, population’s internet access, and beIN sports network in creating the anticipated symbolic economy. Arguably, covering the figurative economy subject and cultural transformations concerning Saudi Arabia will provide a better understanding of the kingdom’s significant advantage to realizing the set vision 2030.
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