WASHINGTON: The Gulf Program for Energy Policy at the Washington Institute has described the visit of Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to the United States as full of economic and political opportunity. These visits were also described as well coordinated and programmed, according to the the director of the Gulf Program at the institute and expert on Saudi affairs, Simon Henderson.

Henderson said that his interesting visit surprised Arab and Gulf citizens as well as Saudis and foreigners through his introduction of the Saudi Vision 2030 and the National Transformation Program 2020.

He said that during his visit to the United States, he not only met with the US president and members of Congress, but also held meetings with many personalities, including the former head of the CIA, the US Central Command, David Petraeus, and co-founder and co-CEO of the Carlyle Investment Group, David Rubenstein. These meetings were carefully coordinated and witnessed the presence of journalists and media personalities.

He added that the Saudi Vision 2030, which has been approved by the government, has now entered the implementation stage because of the determination of the young prince to verify all economic sources in the country.

Henderson said that the Kingdom has continued its current policy which depends on generating huge quantities of oil in order to maintain their share of the market. This has kept prices low and is proof of the strength of the Kingdom.

He said the logical reason behind this economic plan is the prince’s wish to build up the industrial sector and to benefit from cheap energy in the Kingdom, in addition to improving water and electricity management which enjoys a great deal of support from the private sector, both in terms of contributing to gross domestic product or offering job opportunities to Saudis.

The vision also aims to help the Public Investment Fund carry out strategic investments and develop cultural projects.

The National Transformation Program 2020 was initiated with some changes that were announced earlier this month. The goals of this ambitious program include increasing non-oil returns by 300 percent, decreasing dependence on oil, enhancing educational skills and specifications for young men and women, tendering 5 percent of Aramco’s shares in the market for public underwriting, balancing the budget by the 2020, borrowing money globally by issuing bonds (an initial figure of $15 billion has been stated) and imposing income tax on foreign companies which encourages companies to employ Saudis.

Henderson said that the success of this plan depends on Saudi citizens’ enthusiasm for working in the private sector, since many Saudi's prefer to work in the government sector.

He concluded by saying that Prince Mohammed wants to continue to develop strong relations with US companies, adding that he met with the president of the US Chamber of Commerce and various CEOs of arms companies. The Saudi Vision 2030 is based on logical theories, he added.