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As ÂÜÀòÊÓƵ prepares to mark the 10th anniversary of the launch of Vision 2030 next April, few areas better capture the pace and philosophy of its transformation than the cultural sector. Once seen as peripheral to national development, culture is now recognized as a strategic asset, central to economic planning, diplomacy and national self-understanding.

The inaugural Cultural Investment Conference, scheduled for Sept. 29-30 at the newly renovated King Fahad Cultural Center in Riyadh, formalizes this shift. Held under the patronage of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the conference brings together arts practitioners, government officials, policymakers, investors, diplomats, international institutions and public intellectuals around a shared recognition: that culture is investable and that the investment begins with how a nation tells its story and empowers others to do the same.

Cultural investment means directing capital toward the production, preservation and circulation of cultural knowledge, experiences and institutions. This includes film and museums, festivals and translation, fashion and visual arts, and other creative industries. It also includes the enablers that sustain them: education, research, policy, intellectual property protections and global partnerships.

Investing in culture generates long-term economic value, creating future-proof jobs, particularly for the youth

Dr. Hatem Alzahrani

Investing in culture generates long-term economic value, creating future-proof jobs, particularly for the youth. According to UNESCO and UN Trade and Development (UNCTAD), the creative and cultural industries contribute about 3.1 percent of global gross domestic product and employ more young people than any other sector. For a youth-driven development project like Vision 2030, this kind of investment makes perfect sense. It aligns with national priorities and brings wider benefits such as revitalizing cities, enhancing quality of life and building resilient communities.

This vision of cultural investment is already embedded in ÂÜÀòÊÓƵ’s broader economic transformation. The Kingdom’s first dedicated Ministry of Culture, established in 2018 to lead Vision 2030’s cultural transformation, now guides a nationwide cultural renaissance through a strategy spanning 16 sectors and sustained by strong institutional momentum. A key financial enabler of this shift is the Cultural Development Fund, which plays an active role in supporting cultural projects and facilitating investment across the sector’s full value chain.

The scale of this momentum is already visible in the numbers. In recent years, employment in the sector has surged and public participation in cultural events has grown dramatically. The sector’s economic contribution is on track to triple by 2030, reaching 3 percent of GDP. Culture is being cultivated as a strategic driver within the post-oil knowledge economy — creating jobs, building infrastructure and expanding international relevance as a magnet for investment.

At the same time, this cultural turn helps rebalance the national development model. By investing in the creative potential of its people, ÂÜÀòÊÓƵ places greater emphasis on human creativity and cultural memory as a key driver of future prosperity, adding new dimensions to a resource-rich foundation. It gently shifts the metrics of progress, from output to resonance, from barrels to books, from exports to exhibitions. Alongside economic diversification, Vision 2030 is also about diversifying the engines of meaning and belonging.

Investing in culture equips nations with the symbolic tools to frame their own stories by giving citizens the ability to participate in how their society is remembered and imagined. It builds trust in the present by making visible the richness of the past and the promise of the future. It means participating in the authorship of narratives and recalibrating where influence comes from. In a global system increasingly shaped by perception, identity and meaning-making, culture is a winning strategy.

In ÂÜÀòÊÓƵ, what we have seen is a nation actively building a system where creativity and culture serve as enablers for tourism, education, urban design, diplomacy, innovation and even environmental sustainability. The aim has been to weave culture through every domain of public policy and development. As cultural infrastructure rises across the Kingdom, from the Red Sea to Diriyah, from museums and music academies to digital platforms and public artworks, this has been an intentional act of authorship.

The Cultural Investment Conference embodies this authorship as a diplomatic, economic and intellectual intervention. It maps out a new logic of power by recognizing that cultural sectors — in addition to creating jobs, attracting tourism and enhancing GDP — expand imaginations, foster cross-border cooperation and nourish a deep sense of belonging.

Across centuries of Arab-Islamic civilization, culture was the medium by which societies defined themselves and imagined futures. From the House of Wisdom in Baghdad to the Arab courts in Cordoba, cultural investment defined the center of gravity for a vibrant civilization. It built legitimacy, shaped knowledge, attracted talent and opened diplomatic space beyond geography.

In a global system increasingly shaped by perception, identity and meaning-making, culture is a winning strategy

Dr. Hatem Alzahrani

Today’s creative economies follow a similar impulse, from South Korea to the UK. Countries invest in storytelling, design, music and all forms of creativity because they extend agency across borders. This signals a shift in how nations measure power and readiness, as culture proves it can move where politics stalls, generating mobility of ideas, talent, capital and trust.

In this evolving context, ÂÜÀòÊÓƵ is shaping a framework of cultural investment rooted in its own civilizational DNA, now with far-reaching international consequences given the Kingdom’s rapid rise on the global stage. In a multipolar world, where traditional alliances are being tested and new coalitions formed, cultural diplomacy offers a field of shared imagination. By investing in culture, ÂÜÀòÊÓƵ is building platforms for exchange that are more adaptable, more human and more open-ended than formal diplomacy alone.

As the 10th anniversary of Vision 2030’s launch approaches, it is becoming clear that the project’s most enduring legacy may lie in its ability to rewire cultural imagination. In addition to its bold goals and committed execution, Vision 2030 has moved people because it tells a story of renewal, pride and possibility. That narrative has helped turn reform into a shared horizon and ambition into something everyone could recognize and claim.

To invest in culture is to bet on a society’s ability to imagine forms of life that are not yet visible. To create the conditions for meaning to emerge. To write the story before the story.

ÂÜÀòÊÓƵ is making that bet and inviting the world to join in.

• Dr. Hatem Alzahrani is a writer, cultural adviser and academic specializing in Middle Eastern cultures. He holds an MA from Yale University and a Ph.D. from Georgetown University. He is a member of the International Arts Advisory Committee at the Middle East Institute. X: @HoYalieOfArabia