As Saudi Arabia nears the mid-point of its ambitious Vision 2030 journey, the metric for national success has shifted from pure economic output to a more human-centred paradigm: the Quality of Life (QoL) Program.
Under the leadership of CEO Khalid AlBaker, the programme is transforming the kingdom into a “Thriving-Lifestyle Economy”, where urban design, world-class entertainment, and social wellbeing are viewed as the primary engines of GDP growth and global competitiveness.
Before joining the QoL Program, Albaker held several positions and led projects in the sports, entertainment, and tourism sectors. In addition to membership in various committees, including the Saudi Dakar Rally Committee, Formula E, Jeddah Season, Hail Season, the MAHAD Program Transformation to MAHAD Academy, and the Tourism Sector Highlights and requirements, as well as the Investment Enablement of the General Entertainment Authority.
Before being promoted to lead QoL in mid-2022, Albaker was leading two sectors at the programme since mid-2020: chief delivery support officer, which is the core operation of the programme, as well as acting chief of marketing and communications officer.
From the launch of the region’s first “Harry Potter Experience” to a pioneering partnership with UN-Habitat to create the global Quality of Life Initiative (QOLI) Index, the program is moving beyond theory into tangible, data-driven results.
In this interview, AlBaker discusses the strategic alignment of the kingdom’s six priority sectors and how Saudi Arabia is now leading a global conversation on how nations should measure and invest in the happiness of their citizens.
Tell us about the Quality of Life (QOL) Program, and how it supports Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030.
Founded in 2018, the Quality of Life Program is transforming Saudi Arabia by building a quality of life in the kingdom that the world can aspire to. Through smarter urban design, world-class culture, arts, entertainment, sports offerings, and municipal policies, we are enabling healthier, happier, and more active lifestyles for everyone in the kingdom – whether citizen, resident, or visitor.
Our work is closely aligned with Vision 2030’s three pillars: Vibrant Society, Thriving Economy, and Ambitious Nation. At its core, the program contributes to creating a vibrant society by shaping urban environments that enhance livability and everyday life through culture, tourism, sports, entertainment, safety, and well-designed public spaces.
At the same time, these efforts directly support the kingdom’s thriving economy by unlocking investment, creating jobs, and supporting long-term diversification.
Together, this progress strengthens an ambitious nation, elevating the global competitiveness of Saudi cities and positioning them as leading destinations to live, work, and invest.
Many countries treat quality of life as a by-product of growth. Why did Saudi Arabia decide to make it a strategic priority in its own right, and what key sectors does the programme focus on to drive impact?
In Saudi Arabia and in the QoL programme, we recognise that investments in culture, sports, tourism, health, and urban livability contribute to sustainable prosperity, creating new markets, diversifying income streams, and strengthening global competitiveness.
We call this the ‘Thriving-Lifestyle Economy’ and believe it reflects an evolution beyond traditional growth sectors and a focus on GDP, toward a people-first model where quality of life is both an outcome and a driver of economic performance.
To drive impact, we are focusing on six priority quality of life-related sectors that have the greatest potential to elevate the kingdom’s standard of living: culture and heritage, sports, entertainment and hobbies, tourism, urban design, and safety and security.
In 2024, these sectors contributed SAR74.5bn ($19.9bn) to Saudi GDP, non-oil revenues exceeded SAR17.8bn, and generated more than 368,000 jobs.
What is QOL Program’s role in the ecosystem of ministries, public funds, and the private sector?
As a Vision 2030 Vision Realization Program (VRP), we are mandated to work with partners across the public, private and non-profit sectors. We are currently collaborating with 23 implementing entities, with which we have over 173 initiatives underway, and have activated 100+ government assets for public use in sports, culture, and entertainment.
Our governmental partners include the Ministries of Health, Tourism, Media, Communications and Information Technology; alongside public sector organisations such as the Red Sea Authority, ROSHN Real Estate Development, and the Tourism Development Fund.
We are also welcoming international investors through platforms such as Furas, our municipal PPP investor platform that welcomed over 10,000 new investors in 2024 alone.
In addition and in line with Vision 2030, we are empowering local private sector companies and content, with local content contribution now over 39 per cent, well up from the 2019 baseline of 28 per cent and surpassing our target. In total, the QoL Program has stimulated in excess of SAR21.6bn (over $5bn) in non-government investment across its sectors, much of it linked to cultural and entertainment opportunities.
We are further supporting this investment by leveraging our governmental status to enable the right regulatory environment by introducing and activating laws that make new lifestyle opportunities both practical and appealing for private sector investment.
What are some of the most impactful initiatives implemented by the programme in 2025?
We came into 2025 ready to build on the strong results we achieved in 2024 across our six priority sectors, and as the year draws to a close, the programme has seen tangible progress across each of them.
In culture and heritage, this included completing the restoration of 140+ heritage sites, with two new sites registered on the UNESCO World Heritage List. In sports, we launched major sports facilities like the SFA Dome in Dammam, featuring 10 fields within the dome, while in entertainment and hobbies, we saw significant momentum with more than 9,000 entertainment licenses issued and over 1,171 hobbies events organised – a 160 per cent increase compared to 2023.
At the same time, urban design developments have been supported by the incredible 6,000 investment contracts valued at over SAR5bn issued in the sector. With 99.85 per cent of residents expressing confidence in safety and security, it’s another factor that has inspired 115.9 million tourists to visit, surpassing our target of 90.3 million for the year.
Throughout 2025, we also continued to advance a wide range of initiatives – from nurturing sporting excellence, with Saudi athletes securing 10 medals at the 2025 World Para Athletics Championships, to expanding entertainment offerings with the launch of the region’s first “Harry Potter Experience”.
We have also reached new heights in innovative modern urban design, with the Al-Faradha Walkway project selected as one of the top five projects globally in the Architizer Awards competition in the Environmental Architecture category.
Meanwhile, we continue to improve opportunities through training programmes, such as the Royal Institute of Traditional Arts “Wirth”, conducting 20 courses and 5 training tracks in Q2 2025 alone, qualifying more than 240 trainees to preserve heritage and cultural identity.
While final consolidated results for 2025 are yet to be announced, I can confirm that the number of international tourists has increased once again, with non-religious arrivals now constituting 59 per cent of the total numbers.
As a result, the kingdom ranked first globally as the destination with the highest growth rate in international tourist revenues during the first quarter of 2025 compared to the first quarter of 2019.
What can people living in Saudi Arabia expect to see from the programme in 2026 and beyond?
Fundamentally, we will continue to facilitate progress across those six priority sectors, with a clear focus on enhancing quality of life, livability and lifestyle for all. In many cases, we’ve already surpassed our original Vision 2030 targets, but this momentum only raises our ambition further.
We will continue to work in the coming year and beyond to steer the kingdom’s quality of life agenda in line with Vision 2030 and the aspirations of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques and HRH the Crown Prince toward elevating the quality of life for citizens, residents, and visitors.
How is Saudi Arabia contributing to the global conversation on how nations should think about human-centred development?
We want to show how targeted policies can bring tangible improvements in life expectancy and satisfaction as we lead the kingdom’s commitment to championing quality of life and convening global partners to advance sustainable urban development.
We recently partnered with UN-Habitat to launch the Quality of Life Initiative (QOLI) Index, leveraging Saudi Arabia’s role as a trusted international partner to invite countries and cities to exchange knowledge, lay the foundations for more ambitious and human-centric initiatives, and track progress toward quality of life-related UN SDG outcomes, including poverty, education, unemployment, and mobility.
To date, 80 cities have signed Memoranda of Understanding with UN-Habitat to be onboarded to the platform, including five Saudi cities, demonstrating how city-level priorities reflect a national commitment to advancing quality of life for all, at home and abroad.
Leading by example as a pilot city in the QOLI Index, Madinah is showcasing Saudi readiness and efficiency in collecting and collating urban quality of life metrics.
For other countries, what are some of the top lessons you would share from Saudi Arabia’s approach to quality of life investment?
We believe that the QoL Program and Saudi Arabia’s thriving lifestyle economy can reshape how the world views growth, investment, and livability. By putting people-first and using quality of life as a metric for success, national governments and local authorities can drive sustainable economic growth while also enhancing citizen satisfaction.
I would offer the example of Madinah, one of the first-mover cities joining the QOLI Index I mentioned. They utilised city-level data to identify social and economic opportunities, allowing the city to prioritise growth areas for investment, such as the healthcare sector and culture and recreation.
Meanwhile, the kingdom’s nationwide drive to enhance urban quality of life markers is reflected in the high scores Madinah’s residents gave the city for good governance, social cohesion, education completion, and the environment.
We look forward to learning more from both Saudi Arabia and around the world as the QOLI Index expands its scope.
