Achievement of such an economic transformation required deliberate planning and careful implementation of a development program with clearly defined objectives. The quest for economic development and growth began in earnest with the introduction of the First Development Plan in 1970. This was thefirst of a series of five-year plans, each considered a step that has to be taken before the economy can ascend to the next, and higher level.

The first phase of this process was to establish an infrastructure that could support a modern economic base. The next was to develop the human resources necessary to help bring about the planned economic transformation. Finally, the focus could shift to economic diversification, including expansion of the industrial, agricultural and other sectors, an expansion that is now well advanced.

The establishment of the physical infrastructure was accomplished in stages during the first three development plans. As the infrastructure was taking shape, the government launched a major effort to expand the industrial base. This was done along two separate, but parallel, courses. One aimed at the expansion of the country's oil industry and the other at establishing a modern non-oil industrial sector.

In addition to optimizing revenues from Saudi oil production, the modern oil industry plays an equally important role in the development of the non-oil industrial sector by providing the raw materials and feedstock that facilitates this growth.

By 1985, with most of the physical infrastructure in place, attention shifted to diversifying economic sources. "Our economic policy is based on lessening our dependence on the export of crude oil as the sole source of income to the state," emphasized the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Fahd bin Abdulaziz.

The Fourth (1985-89), Fifth (1990-94), Sixth (1995-99) and Seventh (2000-04) Development Plans have all emphasized strengthening the growing private sector and increasing the efficiency of the industrial sector.

Throughout the course of the development plans, Saudi Arabia's steady but dramatic industrial and economic transformation has been accomplished through the careful guidance and active support of the government. To judge the success of this effort one need only consider that in the 25 years from 1970 and 1995, the non-oil sector's share of GDP increased from 46 percent to just over 70 percent, and that this GDP increased more than three-fold to 125.1 billion dollars, reflecting a growth rate of 8.6 percent in current prices. By the end of 1999, the GDP had reached 139 billion dollars.