RIYADH, Saudi Arabia — Saudi Arabia on Monday approved a long-awaited plan laying out reform priorities for the next decade and a half, setting in motion what is likely to be a period of significant economic change in the oil-rich kingdom.
The project, which includes plans to float a stake in the world's largest oil company and set up one of the world's largest government investment funds, is meant to provide a blueprint for sweeping reforms to steer the OPEC kingpin sharply away from its decades-long reliance on cheap-to-produce oil.
King Salman said in a short televised announcement that the Cabinet approved the "Vision 2030" plan on Monday, and he called on Saudis to work together ensure its success.
But it was left up to the king's powerful son, Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, to spell out some details of the program in a pre-recorded interview aired shortly after the announcement on Saudi-owned broadcaster Al-Arabiya.
The prince is second in line to the throne, serves as the country's defense minister and chairs a committee formed soon after his father's ascension last year overseeing economic policymaking. That committee, the Council on Economic and Development Affairs, has been focused on reorienting the kingdom away from its heavy reliance on fossil fuels, creating jobs and boosting foreign investment.
In the wide-ranging interview, Mohammed bin Salman described the country as having become addicted to oil and said a planned partial initial public offering of the state-owned oil giant Saudi Aramco was part of the reform program.
Read Tuesday's Arkansas Democrat-Gazette for full details.