The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has a planning tradition that spans over 30 years. The formal planning process, which started in 1970 (1390 Hijra), enabled the Saudi Government to make prudent decisions in the allocation and utilization of its resources for development. During the last four decades, the Kingdom underwent tremendous transformation under the ninth development plans, which saw the rapid growth of income and living standards of the people, accompanied by dramatic improvements in social and physical infrastructure. While we may not be providing direct services to the citizens, we ensure that all government agencies work in a coordinated manner to achieve the priorities of our policy makers. Towards this end, we do the following:
• Preparation of the Kingdom's Development Plans.
• Preparation of a periodic economic report about the Kingdom that includes an analysis of its economy and explains the extent of progress made in this domain as well as expected developments.
• Estimation of the total amounts needed for implementation of the development plans approved by the Council of Ministers. These estimates shall be the basis for preparing the state's general budget. To this end, both the Ministry of Economy and Planning and the Ministry of Finance shall be in contract for consultation and exchange of information to attain full coordination between the general requirements of the development plans and the available resources.
• Conducting necessary economic studies in the field of relevant topics, and submission of concluded recommendations.
• Assistance of ministries and other government agencies in issues related with planning.
• Providing technical advice as directed by the custodian of the two holy mosques.