Saudi adviser lauds parallels with Singapore, from Lee Kuan Yew to modernisation efforts

Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s sweeping effort to modernise Saudi Arabia’s economy draws direct inspiration from the Singapore model pioneered by Lee Kuan Yew, a senior Saudi political adviser has said.\nMohammed Khalid Alyahya, an adviser to Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan, described the late Singaporean leader’s pragmatic and results-driven governance as a template for Riyadh’s ambitions.\n“We have studied [Singapore] for 50 years – the way the country has invested in education, housing and skills, and how it climbs the technology ladder decade after decade,” Alyahya told an audience on Monday at the S R Nathan Distinguished Lecture hosted by the Middle East Institute, an autonomous research organisation within the National University of Singapore.\n“If Singapore turns swamps into smart cities, Saudi Arabia is forging the future with equal or greater ambition at continental speed and scale. The parallels run deeper, rooted in the resolve of leaders to reject ideology in favour of results.”\n\nAlyahya, who was formerly a senior resident fellow at Harvard’s Belfer Centre, said the kingdom had been echoing Singapore’s transformation with “uncanny precision” under Vision 2030. The US$1.25 trillion programme, launched by Salman in 2016, aims to grow and diversify the Saudi economy into a global, modern powerhouse.\nAlyahya said Salman aimed to diversify the economy beyond oil, similar to how Singapore pivoted from trade to hi-tech innovation.\nSuch national projects were not isolated, but blueprints for collaboration, Alyahya said as he emphasised Singapore and Riyadh’s ties in trade, energy and investments. In January, both countries strengthened ties by establishing the Saudi-Singapore Strategic Partnership Council, which aimed to grow bilateral cooperation in these sectors.\nDuring the signing of the partnership, Singapore’s Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan said Riyadh was a “very significant trading partner” and hailed Vision 2030 as a “forward-thinking master plan which offers enormous opportunities”, including for Singapore companies.\nSaudi giants such as Aramco and Saudi Basic Industries Corporation have established a presence in Singapore, with the latter officially opening a S$220 million (US$169.5 million) manufacturing facility in the city state in November last year.\n\nAlyahya said there was potential for both countries to build partnerships in sectors such as artificial intelligence, healthcare, logistics and tourism.\nHe invited Singaporean firms to invest in the tourism boom likely to follow the Expo 2030 world fair and the 2034 Fifa World Cup, events which are expected to draw millions of visitors and generate billions of dollars.\nRiyadh has also been advancing ties with other countries. Last month, US President Donald Trump announced that Washington would supply its Middle Eastern ally with its most advanced F-35 stealth fighter jets, following Salman’s visit to the White House.\nAlyahya said Riyadh and Washington had a “strong institutional relationship that has always transcended partisan lines”.\n“The relationship is especially robust, and is growing at a particularly fast rate under the Trump administration. The level of alignment that we have with the US today on a number of regional issues is quite high,” he said.\nWhen asked about Saudi Arabia’s stance on the superpower rivalry between the US and China, Alyahya debunked views that the country was looking to diversify.\n“Saudi Arabia is not seeking strong relationships with one state at the expense of traditional alliances, namely, the alliance with the US,” he said.\n“We don’t see that our relationship with China will be at the expense of our relationship with the US,” he added, noting that Beijing was Riyadh’s largest trading partner.\nData by the Chinese foreign ministry showed that trade volume between China and Saudi Arabia reached US$107.5 billion last year, making Riyadh Beijing’s biggest trading partner in the Middle East.\n\nChina and Saudi Arabia expanded their economic and diplomatic engagement in October, following Chinese Vice-President Han Zheng’s visit to Riyadh.\nAlyahya also voiced aspirations for the kingdom to play a bigger role in resolving global conflicts, such as those in the Middle East and Africa.\nHe returned to dismissing ideology, urging warring factions in the Gaza war to adopt pragmatism. “The ideological pursuit of total victory, wiping out one side or the other, serves no one but those who profit from chaos,” he said.\n“Saudi Arabia seeks Israelis and Palestinians living in peace side by side, but normalisation of Israel must be linked to a peaceful resolution of the conflict, or a two-state solution.”\nSaudi Arabia has recognised Palestine as a sovereign nation since 1988, a rhetoric that it has hardened since the war continued. In February, the kingdom rejected the formalisation of ties with Israel, and said it would not do so until Palestine was established as an independent state.\nAlyahya also urged nations against ignoring the civil war in Sudan, which he said was Saudi Arabia’s top priority, given the North African country’s strategic location.\n“They think they can ignore the issue in Sudan because of its geography, being far away, but that isn’t the case. Sudan is important for our global economy and finding a solution for the conflict over there, easing the suffering of millions, is important,” he said.\n