The GCC economies are at a crossroads. Following low oil prices in 2016, the countries need to accelerate structural reforms to diversify their economies away from hydrocarbons, boost the role of the private sector, and create jobs for their rapidly growing labor force. The envisaged economic transformation, as reflected in country diversification plans, will take time. Careful and steady implementation and prioritization will be key to success. All the GCC countries have issued vision statements over the last few years, which describe their development aspirations either for the medium or long term. These visions guide current and future policy actions necessary for countries to achieve their development goals. The period covered varies by country and timing. The vision documents are well-written and cover different aspects of growth, such as entrepreneurship, small and medium scale development, productivity, nationalization of the workforce, national populations with skilled human capital working in the private sector, and development of high-productivity industries and services based on high-skilled labor and competitiveness.
