When the oil revenues began to flow in earnest, Saudi Arabia was still undeveloped. Even in 1975, Riyadh itself was little more than a few streets, with an open sewer running through the town. If we think back to that time, given the climate of the Kingdom, the nature of the terrain and its sheer size, given the distribution of the population and its nature, agrarian, nomadic and mercantile, the prospect of developing a diversified economy seemed more like a dream than a potential reality. To achieve such a diversification, it was necessary to put a number of prerequisites in place. An infrastructure capable of supporting industry and commerce had to be built; the population had to be educated; above all the people had to be persuaded that, God willing, with their help, the dream could be fulfilled.
The organizational skills required (which found expression in the series of Five-Year Plans) were of the highest order – but most striking of all was the vision of King Fahd who marshaled the vast resources of the Kingdom to bring this transformation about.
