Saudi Arabia on track to lead the world in biotechnology 
Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman unleashed Saudi Arabia’s National Biotechnology Strategy, aiming to place the Kingdom as the world’s top biotech hub.
Biotechnology is a multidisciplinary field that involves combining biological processes, organisms and systems with engineering for the benefit of industrial purposes and other services.
Applications for this field are numerous, including food production, vaccine development, gene therapies and diagnostic tools.
Biotech can be used to improve the environment through the conversion of decomposing organic waste into resources such as fertilizer. Biotech can also be used to purify water, by using genetically modified microorganisms to remove pollutants and organic waste.
Saudi Arabia’s National Biotechnology Strategy comes in line with its broader Vision 2030 program to diversify the Kingdom’s economy away from dependence on fossil fuels.
This aim to develop world-leading capabilities in biotech will advance Saudi Arabia’s self-sufficiency in vaccine research and production, biomanufacturing, genomics, and other areas of medical innovation, unlocking a high-growth sector and improving the health and well-being of its citizens.
The Kingdom’s focus on developing advanced technologies is in line with its goals to encourage research and development in vital economic and non-economic fields to secure its supply chains in products and services that support Riyadh’s long-term socioeconomic goals.
The Kingdom’s focus on developing advanced technologies is in line with its goals to encourage research and development in vital economic and non-economic fields to secure its supply chains in products and services that support Riyadh’s long-term socioeconomic goals.
Vision 2030 aims to place Saudi Arabia among the top countries that focus on R&D and, as such, the research, development and innovation initiative will inject an additional SR60 billion ($16 billion) into the nation’s gross domestic product by the year 2040.
The initiative includes annual investment equivalent to 2.5 percent of the country’s GDP in 2040. This, aside from encouraging R&D in the Kingdom, will also create thousands of job opportunities in science and technology, which ultimately will position Saudi Arabia as the Arab world’s largest R&D hub and economy.
I believe that the Kingdom’s intention to develop its capabilities in biotech will support its efforts in developing end-to-end vaccine manufacturing, which will ensure self-sufficiency and enable exports across the Middle East and North Africa.
It will also improve Saudi Arabia’s capabilities in the genomics industry, especially in improving its genomic database and conducting analytics that will help in enhancing preventive healthcare.
Finally, the Kingdom’s focusing on biotech will foster and unlock its innovation capabilities through supportive policies and improved access to support several vital economic and environmental sectors, including food self-sufficiency and security, agricultural productivity and promoting climate sustainability and green practices.
• Talat Zaki Hafiz is an economist and financial analyst. X: @TalatHafiz
