At a government press conference held in Riyadh, with the participation of Salman Al Dosari, Minister of Information, Majid Al Hugeir, Minister of Municipalities and Housing, and Abdullah Al Ghamdi, Director General of the Saudi Data and Artificial Intelligence Agency, an expanded package of digital and operational indicators in the areas of media, housing, municipal affairs, digital transformation, and philanthropy was unveiled. Speakers reviewed detailed figures that reflect the acceleration of policy implementation. Expanding the scope of national programs and institutional and service transformation in Saudi Arabia.
Accelerate towards goal achievement
Information Minister Salman Al Dosari confirmed that the Kingdom continues to achieve its development goals at an accelerated pace, noting that more than 100,000 social security recipients have been empowered by the end of 2025, and the nationalization rate of many specific occupations has been raised to around 70%. He explained that the number of industrial facilities in the Kingdom will reach approximately 13,000 facilities by the end of 2025, the total investment amount will reach approximately 1.2 trillion riyals, and investments in the industrial sector will exceed 9 billion riyals, as indicators reflecting the acceleration of industrial growth and the diversification of the economic base. He also pointed out that, in addition to the launch of 28 development projects supported by Saudi Arabia in Yemen as part of the Kingdom’s external development and humanitarian efforts, the number of jobs in the communications and information technology sector will exceed 400,000 by the end of 2025, in parallel with the expansion of the digital economy.
5 billion media impressions
In the media field, he explained that the 5th Saudi Media Forum achieved more than 5 billion international media appearances, was certified by the Guinness Book of World Records as the world’s largest media event, and the satisfaction rate of Umrah pilgrims reached 94%, and that by 2025, the number of overseas Umrah pilgrims will exceed 18 million.
Rental Assistance Program Helps 6,600 Families
Meanwhile, Majid Al Hogeir, Minister of Local Government and Housing, reviewed housing stability and urban development indicators and explained that in addition to supporting 6,600 households through rental assistance programs, government programs have contributed to protecting more than 200,000 homes from loss. He noted that the municipal sector will implement more than 150,000 digital operations during 2025 as part of the transition to smart services, continuing the trend of allocating 70% of municipal assets to increase investment efficiency and resource sustainability. He pointed out that more than 300 non-profit organizations are active in the municipal sector and the number of volunteers has exceeded 1.4 million over the past five years, indicating growing community participation in urban development. The “Joud Housing” platform has also recorded over 4.5 million donors to date, underscoring the accuracy of the data provided to ensure efficiency of support and the importance of continuing to implement various community initiatives, including seasonal giving programs, in a way that enhances family stability as a national priority within development goals.
Donation execution time reduced to 5 seconds
Regarding the axis of data and artificial intelligence, Sudaya President Abdullah Al-Ghamdi explained that under the supervision of 13 regulatory bodies to ensure governance and credibility, digital philanthropy is rapidly growing through the Ethan platform, with total donations reaching approximately SR 14 billion, more than 12.45 million donations carried out, and 2,400 deserving organizations benefiting from the platform’s services. He pointed out that the execution time of the donation process has been reduced to less than five seconds, striving to reduce intermediaries between donors and beneficiaries to ensure the speed and efficiency of aid provision, and emphasized that in light of the growing demand for philanthropy in the Kingdom, artificial intelligence will contribute to accelerating access to deserving people and increasing productivity in the business environment, in parallel with the preparation of an educational curriculum dedicated to artificial intelligence to enhance national capacity, in light of the growing demand for philanthropy in the Kingdom.
The scale of the figures announced reflects the growing scope of transformation in multiple sectors, including media, industry, housing, municipal operations and digital philanthropy, with the use of advanced technologies to increase the efficiency of services, improve quality of life and increase the transparency of display of performance indicators, while the Government’s press conferences continue to serve as a regular platform to announce interim results of national programs and inform society of the path to accelerated development transformation in various sectors.
A government press conference held in Riyadh, attended by Media Minister Salman Al Dosari, Minister of Local Government and Housing Majid Al Hokair, and Saudi Data and Artificial Intelligence Authority Director General Abdullah Al Ghamdi, unveiled an expanded package of digital and operational indicators in the areas of media, housing, municipal affairs, digital transformation, and philanthropy. Speakers presented detailed figures that reflect the accelerated implementation of national programs and expanded transformation of institutions and services in the Kingdom.
Accelerate towards goal achievement
Media Minister Salman Al Dosari confirmed that the Kingdom continues to achieve its development goals at an accelerated pace, noting that by the end of 2025, more than 100,000 social security beneficiaries will be empowered and the localization rate in some professions will rise to around 70%. He explained that the number of industrial facilities in the Kingdom will reach approximately 13,000 by the end of 2025, with total investment reaching nearly SR 1.2 trillion, with investment in the industrial sector exceeding SR 9 billion, indicating rapid industrial growth and diversification of the economic base. He also pointed out that 28 development projects have been launched with Saudi support in Yemen as part of the Kingdom’s external development and humanitarian efforts, and that, in parallel with the expansion of the digital economy, the number of jobs in the telecommunications and information technology sector will exceed 400,000 by the end of 2025.
5 billion media appearances
In the media field, it was revealed that the 5th Saudi Media Forum achieved more than 5 billion international media appearances, achieved a 94% pilgrim satisfaction rate, surpassed the number of foreign pilgrims to 18 million by 2025, and was recognized by the Guinness Book of World Records as the world’s largest media event.
Rent Assistance Program Helps 6,600 Families
Meanwhile, Majid Al Hokair, Minister of Local Government and Housing, reviewed indicators of housing stability and urban development and explained that in addition to supporting 6,600 households through the rental assistance program, government programs have helped protect more than 200,000 people from housing loss. He pointed out that the municipal sector will carry out more than 150,000 digital operations in 2025 as part of the transition to smart services, continuing the trend of allocating 70% of municipal assets to increase investment efficiency and resource sustainability. He pointed out that more than 300 non-profit organizations are active in the local government sector, the number of volunteers has exceeded 1.4 million in the past five years, and community participation in urban development is expanding. The “Jood Housing” platform has recorded more than 4.5 million donors to date, underscoring the importance of the accuracy of the data provided to ensure efficiency of support and continuity of various community initiatives, such as seasonal giving programs that increase family stability as a national priority within development goals.
Reduced donation processing time to 5 seconds
In the field of data and artificial intelligence, Abdullah Alghamdi, Director of “SDAIA”, explained that under the supervision of 13 regulatory bodies to ensure governance and credibility, digital philanthropy is rapidly growing through the Ehsaas platform, with total donations reaching approximately SR 14 billion, more than 12.45 donation transactions executed, and 2.4 billion eligible charities benefiting from the platform’s services. He pointed out that with the growing interest in philanthropy in the Kingdom, reducing the intermediaries between donors and beneficiaries to increase the speed and efficiency of providing assistance, as well as reducing the time taken to process donations to less than five seconds, he confirmed that artificial intelligence is contributing to faster access to donation recipients and increased productivity in the business environment, in parallel with the preparation of professional education curricula in artificial intelligence to enhance national capacity.
The figures released reflect broader transformation across multiple sectors, including media, industry, housing, local government operations and digital philanthropy, using cutting-edge technology to increase service efficiency, improve quality of life and promote transparency in the presentation of performance indicators, while Government press conferences continue to serve as a regular platform to showcase interim results of national programs and inform communities about accelerating development transformation across a range of sectors.
