In the year when Moscow and Riyadh celebrate the centenary of their interstate relations, Saudi Arabia is to be the guest country at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum. As the biggest economic player in the region, with an oil and gas sector accounting for 48% of its GDP, approximately double that of Russia today, the Kingdom is making huge efforts to diversify its economy, relying on the Vision 2030 strategy. The Saudi Arabia pavilion at SPIEF 2026 is intended precisely as a presentation platform for its investment, export, and tourism potential. This, of course, creates new opportunities for development and deepening of Russian-Saudi cooperation. BRICS Business Magazine examines the future Riyadh is building for itself, how its ambitious reforms are changing the region, and why BRICS has been assigned a special place in this strategy.
“Looking from the outside, you get the feeling that an armada of flying saucers has landed off the coast of Saudi Arabia,” is how Dmitry Arutyunov, CEO of tour operator ART-TUOR, describes the futuristic resort Shebara with its “hovering” villas resembling space capsules. It is one of the flagship projects of the Saudi Vision 2030 programme.
Tourism is just one of the areas affected by the country’s large-scale transformation. Dmitry Arutyunov is confident that, by 2030, the Saudi Red Sea Project cluster, which currently includes not only the futuristic Shebara but also St. Regis, Ritz-Carlton, and other premium hotels, will compete with the world’s leading beach resorts. The ambitious Vision 2030 reform plan stipulates that, by that time, the country will be visited by 100 million foreign tourists a year, while tourism’s contribution to GDP will reach 10%. This is truly striking, considering that, just seven years ago, the country was virtually closed to secular tourism. Visitors came either with business visas or as pilgrims heading to Mecca and Medina.
Tourism is one facet of the large-scale transformation initiated by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. The goal of the Vision 2030 programme, launched in 2016, is to make the budget less dependent on oil and radically diversify the economy. The strategy’s implementation will boost Saudi Arabia’s non-oil revenues sixfold by 2030, to reach USD 267 billion. At the same time, the volume of non-oil exports should more than triple to account for 50% of GDP.
It is not just a matter of restructuring the economy but also of the country’s international image. Arutyunov recalls how, at the World Tourism Forum in Riyadh in 2025, he heard a speech by Cristiano Ronaldo, who has now been playing for the Saudi club Al-Nassr for over three years. “He began his speech with the words ‘I am a Saudi man’ – ‘I am a Saudi’ – and emphasized that he and his family are happy in the Kingdom,” Dmitry says. Ronaldo has become the face of a large-scale advertising campaign for drawing global attention to Saudi Arabia and building a positive image of the country.
Acquisition of landmark assets around the world also fits into this logic. The purchase of shares in London’s Heathrow Airport is apparently part of an expansion into the aviation sector and aligns with the Kingdom’s ambitions to become a global transport hub. The acquisition of a stake in Rocco Forte Hotels (the chain manages premium hotels, including the Astoria in St. Petersburg) has provided an opportunity to gain expertise and a brand for use in its own mega-projects. Finally, by concluding the biggest ever video-game deal with Electronic Arts, the Kingdom has staked on products consumed by hundreds of millions of people worldwide and the growing gaming market, valued at USD 190 billion (revenue that already surpasses those of the film and music industries).
At the same time, the Kingdom has become more open to foreign business. “Over the last two years, the market entry process has become more structured and transparent”, BRICS and SCO Business Incubator Director Tatiana Seliverstova shares with BRICS Business Magazine. As of 2026, foreign companies can open a business in Saudi Arabia with 100% ownership, a local partner no longer being mandatory. The country has five special economic zones and more than 40 industrial ones. Even so, the requirements for projects have also increased, Seliverstova warns: “A well-thought-out business model, knowledge of local laws and cultural specifics are needed.”
“Thanks to Saudi Arabia’s strategic location and vast resources, it can become a bridge between economies”, Saudi Minister of Commerce Majid Al Qasabi said at the 2026 World Economic Forum in Davos. In his opinion, the country could be a “connecting link” between Africa, Europe, and Asia, after transforming into a major logistics hub. These ambitions are based on the advantages of geographical location, port modernization, investment in logistics digitalization, and the Saudi Land Bridge railway project, which will connect Red Sea and Gulf ports and industrial centres (the plan is to cut travel time between Riyadh and Jeddah from approximately 12 hours by car to less than four hours by train). The Saudi Arabia logistics market was valued at USD 58 billion in 2025. According to forecasts by the international consulting company IMARC Group, it will reach USD 86.9 billion by 2034.
Countries of the Global South are expected to benefit from this as well: they will gain access to new trade routes and lower costs. New logistics bridges are being actively created with neighbours: a line connecting Sharjah (UAE) and Dammam, as well as a planned corridor connecting Egyptian ports with Saudi Arabia.
At the same time, Riyadh comes second only to the UAE in the Gulf countries in terms of investment in Africa. According to the Knight Frank report Africa Horizons: The Continent’s Unique Guide to Real Estate Investment Trends and Opportunities (2023/2024)’, the Kingdom’s investments are estimated at USD 25.6 billion. The main interest driver is food security: only 2% of the country’s land is suitable for agriculture, yet the population will grow from 38 million to 45 million by 2050. So, Saudi Arabia is actively investing in agricultural holdings in East Africa.
“In the lobby of any five-star hotel in Moscow, you see a lot of Saudi citizens, sometimes even more than Russians”, notes Dmitry Arutyunov, ART-TOUR CEO. At the end of 2025, for the first time Saudi Arabia was in second place in Russia’s inbound tourist flow: more than 74 thousand citizens of the Kingdom visited the country (35.8% more than the previous year). Russian interest in this Middle Eastern monarchy is also growing, Arutyunov expects. In the future, the flow will be boosted by the visa abolition, especially considering that Russia is home to about 20 million Muslims.
Trade turnover between Russia and Saudi Arabia exceeded USD 4 billion in 2025, Kristina Tantsyura, Head of the Committee for Work with the UAE and Gulf Countries at the Association of Exporters and Importers, tells BRICS Business Magazine. Over the year, it increased by 85%, according to Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak. The key asset is agricultural products, which saw 2.5-fold growth over three years. The trade turnover is based on raw materials, materials, and equipment, but the Saudi market is open and eagerly awaiting food products and everyday goods, says Tantsyura: “The country is actively developing all segments of the economy so, if a product does not run counter to the rules of Islam, it can be in demand.” The Kingdom exports chemical products, plastics, and seafood to Russia; the country is ready to expand exports of dates and date-based products. In the pharmaceutical sector, Saudi Arabia needs medicines for oncology and diabetes: according to 2024 data, the country ranked 16th in diabetes prevalence in the world.
One promising area consists of joint ventures for localizing production facilities in the Kingdom. This could help, in particular, Russian manufacturers that have lost other foreign markets due to the general political situation, notes Tantsyura. She calls the current conditions for localization unprecedented.
“Saudi Arabia provides one of the largest transformational markets, this creating a serious demand for external expertise and technologies”, says Tatiana Seliverstova, Director of the BRICS and SCO Business Incubator. This concerns primarily infrastructure, industrial localization, construction, digital solutions, agricultural technologies, water, and energy projects. “The most sustainable positions will be taken by Russian companies that are ready not just to export a product but to offer comprehensive solutions, engineering expertise, and a long-term presence”, she emphasizes. Saudi investors are ready to finance Russian projects in EdTech, fintech, agriculture, construction, water purification, and desalination. “The Russian market is also interesting as access to the EAEU space, which is attractive to Saudi companies focused on expanding their international presence”, says Seliverstova.
New opportunities are also opening up in the energy sector. “I see nuclear energy, gas generation, and renewables as the most realistic directions”, reflects Vasily Savin, Partner at Kept, Head of Energy and Utilities Sector Practice, in an interview with BRICS Business Magazine. Saudi Arabia has a tremendous need for water desalination, which requires huge amounts of energy. Riyadh could direct the oil freed up towards industrialization of Africa (more than 85% of the population there lacking access to energy). So, the Saudis may be interested in Russian Rosatom’s experience (small modular reactors, floating nuclear power units), as well as that of Gazprom and Unigreen Energy.
The main limiting factor is strong competition: major international players have long been established on the market. “Vision 2030 emphasises localization, so simply bringing equipment will not work: local presence, service, and transfer of competencies are required. In the nuclear sphere, Riyadh is conducting parallel negotiations with the United States on a civilian nuclear programme. In the gas and renewables sectors, accelerating cooperation is hindered by sanctions and the absence of uniform quality standards”, notes Savin.
Interestingly, the Vision 2030 strategy adopted back in 2016 is undergoing significant adjustments during its implementation, though this does not affect its main overarching goal: a future without oil dependence. As Saudi Finance Minister Mohammed Al-Jadaan told Bloomberg in an interview, Riyadh is now staking not only on tourism, manufacturing, and logistics but also on technology. According to Financial Times sources, in particular the Neom project, which includes construction of the futuristic linear city The Line, has been revised. It is assumed that it might become a hub for data centres. This is linked to Saudi Arabia’s goal of becoming an AI leader. All this appears to be a logical shift in focus against the backdrop of geopolitical changes, volatile oil prices, and large-scale commitments (for example, in 2034, the country is preparing to host the FIFA World Cup).
At the same time, Riyadh’s transformation has already opened up new niches for the BRICS countries and the Global South: from tourism and logistics to AI and nuclear energy. Experts interviewed by BRICS Business Magazine are confident that, here, BRICS can provide a platform for expert dialogue, preparation of pilot projects, coordination of regulatory approaches, and reduction of currency risks.
