Saudi Arabia showcases tourism, AI and trade ambition at WEF 2026

Saudi Arabia used the World Economic Forum 2026 Annual Meeting to outline its rapid transformation across tourism, technology and industry, as senior ministers and officials underscored the Kingdom’s focus on international partnerships and innovation-led growth.

Across multiple sessions, Saudi leaders positioned the Kingdom as an increasingly central player in global trade, travel, artificial intelligence, mining and advanced manufacturing, arguing that the current global economic landscape presents a rare opportunity for collaboration and long-term value creation.

Speaking during a session titled “Many Shapes of Trade”, Minister of Commerce Majid Al-Kassabi highlighted Saudi Arabia’s readiness to capitalise on shifting global supply chains.

He observed that international trade is moving towards a managed, rules-driven model, a trend that aligns with the Kingdom’s current economic trajectory.

Saudi Arabia at World Economic Forum 2026

Al-Kassabi emphasised that Saudi Arabia is uniquely positioned to act as a “connector economy”, leveraging its vast resources and strategic geography to function as a logistics hub and a bridge linking markets across continents.

Tourism featured prominently in discussions on future growth. During a session titled “The New Geography of Travel: Elevating Destinations, Expanding Opportunity”, Minister of Tourism Ahmed Al-Khateeb pointed to projections from UN Tourism that international tourist numbers will reach 2bn by 2030, an increase of 500m travellers from current levels.

Al-Khateeb described the outlook as highly encouraging for Saudi Arabia’s tourism ecosystem, noting that the projected growth creates significant opportunities for hotel operators, investors and technology providers, reinforcing tourism’s role as a high-potential sector within the Kingdom’s economy.

Minister of Finance Mohammed Aljadaan told delegates that the primary responsibility of policymakers is to create a predictable environment for businesses.

He said Saudi Arabia is achieving this by strengthening economic resilience and giving the private sector the stability and confidence required for long-term growth.

Technology and artificial intelligence were central themes during a session titled “Converging Technologies to Win”, Minister of Communications and Information Technology Abdullah Alswaha addressed what he described as the critical technical challenges of the intelligence age, highlighting Saudi Arabia’s efforts to tackle the “energy wall” and “memory wall” associated with large-scale AI.

The importance of AI

Alswaha said that while accelerating AI development is important, successful adoption and implementation are even more critical. He positioned the Kingdom as an ideal partner for international technology firms seeking an environment capable of supporting AI integration and development.

In a session titled “A Collective Voice on the Future of Minerals: Aligning Policy, Investment and Supply”, Minister of Industry and Mineral Resources Bandar Alkhorayef underlined Saudi Arabia’s commitment to multilateral cooperation.

He said the Kingdom is focused on building strategic platforms that enable global dialogue and partnership across the mining sector.

Alkhorayef identified the Future Minerals Forum as a leading global platform that now brings together governments, financial institutions, academic bodies and technology providers.

Minister of Economy and Planning Faisal Alibrahim, speaking during Redefining Economic Partnerships: From Dialogue to Delivery, advocated for a global model that allows every nation to unlock its economic potential without closing channels of dialogue.

He said the current global environment offers a “blank canvas” for countries to collaboratively design a more inclusive economic future.

Saudi–US innovation collaboration

On Thursday, the Global Innovation Platform, a strategic partnership between Saudi HoldCo and GoldenPoint Global, launched the Saudi–US Innovation Partnership.

The nationally anchored platform is designed to accelerate bilateral collaboration in life sciences, artificial intelligence and advanced manufacturing.

Anchored by the cities of Riyadh and Austin, the initiative aims to align two of the world’s most dynamic innovation ecosystems.

Separately, Amplifai Health was announced as a winner of the second cohort of the MINDS – AI Global Alliance initiative.