The appointment of Prince Mohammed bin Salman, 31, as the new Crown Prince and first heir to Saudi King Salman bin Abdul Aziz al Saud is likely to signal a continuation of the kingdom’s economic reforms already adopted by the young prince himself.
Bin Salman chairs the Council of Economic and Development Affairs, which has put forth the Saudi Vision 2030. The vision aims to diversify the Saudi economy and reduce its dependence on oil among other social and economic objectives.
The vision is also working on increasing the number of working Saudis, especially in the private sector, as opposed to heavily depending on expat employees in the past.
His appointment will help Saudi Arabia continue to deploy the policies looking to increase investments in the Kingdom, diversify the economy and encourage tourism and entrepreneurship in the country.

Bin Salman and Trump
Bin Salman and Trump during the latter’s visit to Saudi Arabia. Photo: Getty

Recently, Saudi has signed deals with various multinational companies and sealed deals worth $280 billion, which were signed during the recent visit of U.S. President Donald Trump.
A key part of the Crown Prince’s diversification plan was the Aramco IPO – potentially the biggest IPO of all time – which could infuse billions of dollars into the Kingdom in the wake of budget deficits.
Bin Salman’s appointment is expected to attract further investment as Saudi looks to enter the MSCI emerging markets index in 2019.
The Young Crown Prince
According to his biography published by the MiSK Foundation for leadership and teaching youth, Bin Salman has ten years of experience working in the fields of economy. The Crown Prince is also known for his charitable efforts.
He has a degree in law from King Saud University. In 2009, he became his father’s personal consultant when the current king was the Prince of Riyadh.
In 2013, Bin Salman was appointed as his father’s bureau chief, after King Salman was appointed as the late king Abdullah’s crown prince.
It was the same year where Bin Salman was chosen as the person of the year during the ‘Leaders Inspiring a Kingdom’ event organized by Forbes Middle East.

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Prince Bandar bin Salman received the award on behalf of the then Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

He was chosen to become a minister of state in 2014.
The young Bin Salman was appointed as deputy crown prince in 2015 by his father, who was then the newly-crowned king of Saudi Arabia.
He was later appointed as the kingdom’s defense minister, becoming the world’s youngest defense minister.
Bin Salman replaces Prince Mohammed bin Naif, who pledged allegiance to the new crown prince and was relieved from his posts of a crown prince, minister of interior and deputy prime minister.
The Crown Prince is now in line to become the first king from the third-generation grandsons of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s founder, King Abdul Aziz al Saud.
According to the new decree issued by King Salman, the Crown Prince is set to become the first king to succeed his father in the future since King Saud succeeded King Abdul Aziz in 1953.