Deputy Crown Prince: Saudi Arabia does not politicize Oil policies

Saudi Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz, Second Deputy Prime Minister and Defense Minister said that it is nearly impossible that oil loses $ 30 by virtue of the current demand existing in the world, stressing that the Kingdom does not politicize its oil policies for its political interests, it is only for the benefit of Aramco.

"We can achieve the vision if the oil price is thirty dollars or less and we think it is nearly impossible that oil loses $ 30 by virtue of the current demand existing in the world," Prince Mohammed bin Salman said in a press conference held Monday after the launch of the "Kingdom of Saudi Arabia's Vision 2030". 
He added that no doubt the rise in oil prices will be important support for realizing this vision which is planned on the basis of achieving a price of $ 30 in order not to put the Kingdom in any risk of low oil prices. 

Asked about the Kingdom's oil policy, he said that the kingdom already announced in all forums that it does not politicize its oil policies for its political interests in the kingdom. It is only for the benefit of Aramco, he added. 
The Saudi Deputy Crown Prince said, "forthcoming programs will be announced and launched under the umbrella of the 'Kingdom of Saudi Arabia's Vision 2030', the first of which is the national transformation program expected to be announced by the end of the 5th month or the beginning of the 6th month. It will be an executive program to achieve the objectives of the vision in many sectors the most important of which is the sector of services and the needs of the citizens. They will have more details and clearer when launched". 
"The contribution of the private sector is 40%, according to what is now part of the privatization project," he said, adding "there is a strong privatization that will focus on education and health". 

Asked about Aramco, he said, "Firstly, we are talking about more than a trillion dollars and until now, valuation of Aramco has not finished. We are working on this thing with the banks and specialized centers. We expect that the evaluation of Aramco will be more than two trillion dollars". 

He added that there are non-Aramco assets that will enter the fund and part of them will be also income for the fund with a value that may reach $ 300 billion in addition to the current value of the fund which is nearly $ 200 billion. "In this way, we will have a public investment fund with the size of more than a trillion, nearly $ 3 trillion". Freezing the production of Aramco has nothing to do with its value or entry to the fund and the decision is for the benefit of Aramco.
With regard to a question about the vision of the Kingdom's economy, the Saudi Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz, Second Deputy Prime Minister and Defense Minister, said "the vision was not built on a decline in oil prices. It is a vision to take advantage of the opportunities in our dear homeland". 

About his vision on armament and the military, he said the vision addresses the military industries in the Kingdom which he hopes to bolster and create a new economic sector providing many jobs and very high profit. 

On numbers of pilgrims, he said that about pilgrims, "it is very difficult to greatly increase their number because of time and site limitations," adding that "we deal with the Hajj as a religious duty. It is our duty to offer Hajj services completely free, and this is the duty of all Saudis towards the Muslim world. As for Umrah, there is a chance to increase Umrah performers and visitors throughout the year. We target increasing them to 30 million in the next 15 years". 

On a question concerning women, the Deputy Crown Prince said "Women's car driving is not a religious issue but rather a social one. Until today, society is not convinced with women's driving and believes there will be very negative consequences if women are allowed to drive," stressing at the same time that women's work is very important and they are half of the society.