Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud formally known as MBS is the Crown Prince, de facto ruler of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the grandson of the nation’s founder Ibn Saud.
Saudi Arabia is a member of the OPEC, Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and is the largest producer of oil among the OPEC members.
This young Crown Prince, who is turning 40 in August 2025, is a true visionary leader.
MBS has introduced a lot of social and economic reforms since 2017, when he became the Crown Prince, including women’s rights, removing the ban on female drivers, and curtailing the Wahhabi religious establishment.
In September 2018, MBS inaugurated a high-speed railway line between Mecca and Medina, the two holy cities of Islam. It is called Haramain Express travelling up to a speed of 300 km an hour, is a 400 km line that can transport around 60 million passengers annually.
In November 2018, MBS announced a project to build Saudi Arabia’s first nuclear reactor and aims to build 16 more nuclear facilities over the next 20 years. It is a significant effort to diversify the Kingdom’s energy sector, including a 1.8 gigawatt solar plant as a long-term project in partnership with Softbank.
MBS wants to diversify the Kingdom’s source of income and become a global hub for the future world. He wants the Kingdom to be in the top 10 tourist destinations and is spending billions of dollars to achieve the title.
Mohammad bin Salman’s Saudi Vision 2030 program aims to reduce the Saudi economy’s reliance on oil and diversify the economy in other sectors such as technology and tourism.
With his productive and far-sighted leadership style, Saudi Arabia has pursued an exceptional foreign policy aimed at increasing the country’s regional and international influence and attracting substantial foreign investment.
Saudi Arabia has expanded its commercial and diplomatic relations with many countries and regions like Africa, South America and Asia and most importantly, the Kingdom has finely coordinated energy policy with Russia and strengthened its relationship with China.
MBS has also maintained a healthy relationship with the United States and President Donald Trump.
One of many mega projects currently under development in Saudi Arabia, NEOM is a mega project to build a new city covering an area of about 26,000 km squares. It is on the northern tip of the Red Sea, east of Egypt and south of Jordan. A state-of-the-art city project to be constructed by 2029. NEOM will be the city of innovation and a gateway to the future.
One of the highlights of this mega project is the LINE, a smart city in NEOM, 170 km long at a height of 500 meters and a width of 200 meters to accommodate a population of 9 million people. This smart city is designed to have no cars, streets or carbon emissions. A special train will be built underground to take residents from one side to another in just 20 minutes and basic services will be within a five-minute walking distance.
The LINE would have an entirely glass mirror exterior.
Artificial intelligence will monitor the city and residents submitting the data to the LINE for the improvement of the daily life for its customers will be paid.
MBS on diversity said, “When you want to diversify an economy, you have to work in all sectors mining, infrastructure, manufacturing, transportation logistics, all this…. part of it is tourism, and if you want to develop tourism part of its culture, part of it is your sports sector because you need to create a calendar.”
MBS has shown a lot of passion in the Saudi sports sector too. Saudi Arabia is hosting the FIFA Club World Cup in 2034 and the Asian Games in 2039.
Newcastle United Football Club is an English football club and Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund is a major owner of the Club. On 16th March 2025, Newcastle United won the Carabao Cup, the first major domestic trophy in 70 years.
It is a victory for Saudi Arabia and it is a victory for MBS. Mohammed bin Salman.
MBS also welcomes foreigners to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia by offering permanent residence and the right to work, do business, own properties, and invest in the Kingdom without the need for a sponsor.
And to facilitate this as smoothly as possible, the Saudi Cabinet in 2019 approved a new residency scheme called Premium Residency for foreigners, also informally known as the green card of Saudi Arabia.
This scheme is part of Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 in order to bring the Kingdom to the forefront of the global stage and attract highly skilled and wealthy foreign investors and entrepreneurs to come and live in the Kingdom of the future.
MBS hosted Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Riyadh on March 10, 2025, ahead of the US-Ukraine talks to put an end to the brutal war between Russia and Ukraine, who have been fighting for more than 3 years, with thousands dead and millions affected.
Saudi Arabia under the leadership of MBS has positioned itself as a neutral mediator in global politics and conflicts reflecting its growing role as a diplomatic power broker.
This is MBS, Mohammed bin Salman.
This article is written by Jordan Zaman