I am not only the first female Saudi ambassador to the United States, I am the first Saudi ambassador who grew up in the United States, went to high school and college here and has come to know the United States as her second home.
I have seen the special nature of the Saudi-U.S. relationship firsthand. It is important, not only to both our nations, but to the world, for ensuring global peace and security, for guaranteeing the international energy supply, for creating economic growth, jobs and opportunity for workers and families in both our nations.
As ambassador, my role is to make sure our bilateral relationship remains strong and that our people and businesses have the opportunity to unlock the vast benefits and advantages of our now nearly eight-decade long partnership and alliance.
In the Kingdom, our Saudi Vision 2030 program is ushering in unprecedented economic, social and cultural transformation. It is change and transformation that is truly historic. This change and transformation is essential in both the Kingdom’s economic advancement as well as its goal to ensure that all Saudis — especially women and youth — have the opportunity to explore and realize the full potential of their talents and abilities.
These reforms are wide-reaching, systemic and permanent — reshaping all sectors of Saudi economic and social life.
I never imagined the pace of reform and change would be so rapid.
The Kingdom has now become a regional and global economic engine for innovation, high tech manufacturing, sustainable and renewable energy, artificial intelligence and entertainment and tourism.
Saudi Arabia has invested billions of dollars to diversify its economy beyond oil, just as Utah, once primarily dependent on mining, took the same path, diversified the state’s economy and created a technology ecosystem for jobs and development.
As a result, both the Kingdom and Utah are now among the best places in the world to invest and do business.
The World Economic Forum’s Global Competitiveness report now ranks Saudi Arabia among the world’s top 40 economies and the World Bank just recognized the Kingdom as the top reformer in its “East of Doing Business” report.
For the Saudi-U.S. relationship, this has meant greater trade, increased business partnerships and investments and the Kingdom purchasing tens of billions of U.S. good and services.
As Saudi Arabia transforms, grows and prospers, so do our partners and allies, especially the United States.
And the U.S. business community is taking note — as is Utah’s business community, which will send one of its largest ever trade delegations to the Kingdom in April to expand relationships, explore opportunities for growth and development and strengthen already existing ties, including the Saudi Agricultural and Investment Company’s work with Utah agricultural producers; Saudi’s MiSK Foundation investing in Utah tech companies and placing interns in the state; and Saudi Aramco, now the world’s wealthiest public company, which will hold its national supplier forum in Utah this May.
There’s never been a better time for Utah’s businesses, investors and tourists to explore the opportunities in Saudi Arabia.
The relationship between the Kingdom and Utah is already strong, and it’s getting stronger.
When the trade delegation arrives in Saudi Arabia next month, everywhere they look they’ll see the development of transportation and infrastructure projects, whole new cities, art and cultural centers, museums, concert halls, sports centers, theme parks and tourism sites.
They’ll see the nation changing, modernizing, but at the same time maintaining its character and heritage.
The Kingdom is retaining the best of what it has been and becoming the best of what it can be.
There’s never been a better time for Utah’s businesses, investors and tourists to explore the opportunities in Saudi Arabia.
Investors and companies will find economic reforms and incentives, across a wide range of industrial sectors, put in place specifically to promote and encourage foreign investment, including a number of sectors that for the first time now offer opportunities for 100% foreign ownership as well as the world’s largest solar project and NEOM, Saudi’s city of the future, which will come a beacon of next generation development and technology.
Tourists and travelers will find unrivaled hospitality, unique and cherished traditions, one-of-a-kind UNESCO world sites and a cultural heritage that spans millennia.
But most importantly, what they will all find is that historic social reform has transformed the Kingdom, ending the guardianship system, ensuring equal pay in the workplace and ending segregation at public events and restaurants. Almost every day there seems to be a new reform or change continuing to reshape Saudi society, ensuring that men and women have the same opportunities and the same future prospects.
When Utah’s businesses and visitors come to Saudi Arabia, what they’ll find is that our nations and our people are more alike than different. We are both religious desert cultures with common values and dreams. We both believe in faith and family, in helping those in need, in a future shaped by creativity and innovation, not conflict, and the importance and power of friendship.
They’ll find that as the Kingdom becomes stronger through change and reform, so does the relationship between our countries.
And above all else, they’ll find that despite occasional bumps and challenges in our bilateral relationship, Saudi Arabia and the United States are enduring friends and allies.
Together, we have ensured peace and prosperity, created global stability and promoted progress and understanding.
We look forward to welcoming Utah’s businesses and tourists. We want them to come, see and experience the Kingdom for themselves and to become a part of the great relationship between our nations.
Her Royal Highness Princess Reema bint Bandar Al Saud is the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s ambassador to the United States.