The Future Saudi Arabia Is Building Needs You

Saudi National Day is a moment to reflect with pride on our nation’s journey, the progress we have made and the people whose determination brought us here.

What we have achieved should not only make us proud. It should give us confidence in what we can achieve next.

For young Saudis beginning their careers today, the future is already taking shape around you. New industries are emerging. Technology is changing how we live and work. Saudi companies are competing confidently on the world stage, creating opportunities that would have been difficult to imagine a generation ago.

The question is no longer simply: where will I find my place in the future? It is: what part of that future will I help build?

Mining may not be the first industry that comes to mind when planning a career. Perhaps it should be.

Saudi Arabia is blessed with extraordinary natural resources. For generations, the world has known the Kingdom for its oil, but beneath its land lies a much broader mineral opportunity, spanning phosphate, gold, copper and bauxite, alongside critical minerals and rare earths. Yet what lies beneath our feet is only the beginning.

With over 8,000 people, operations across the Kingdom, one of the world’s largest single-jurisdiction exploration programs and a series of major growth projects underway, Maaden is operating at a scale that reflects the Kingdom’s mining ambition.

Modern mining brings together an extraordinary range of people and disciplines. Geologists search for resources yet to be discovered. Engineers design sophisticated operations. Data scientists find new ways to improve performance. Technology specialists apply artificial intelligence and automation to enhance the efficiency of drilling, exploration and extraction. Commercial teams connect Saudi products with customers around the world.

There is room in this industry for many different kinds of ambition. Saudi Arabia’s mineral opportunity is ultimately a human opportunity, and Maaden’s ambition depends on exceptional people.

Developing those people does not begin on an employee’s first day. It starts much earlier, by giving young Saudis opportunities to discover their abilities and explore where their skills and ambitions might take them.

Through scholarships, graduate development programs, internships and early-career pathways, we are creating routes from education and early exposure to careers, specialization and leadership. We are building Saudi capabilities for the long term, developing specialist expertise and future leaders, and enabling Saudi talent to shape an industry central to the Kingdom’s future.

Young Saudis should not see themselves simply as beneficiaries of the transformation taking place in the Kingdom. You have the opportunity to become the engineers, scientists, entrepreneurs, innovators and leaders who shape and drive it.

The impact of their work extends far beyond the Kingdom. The phosphate we produce supports global food systems. Saudi aluminum contributes to industries around the world. Our growing mineral portfolio connects Saudi Arabia more closely to the industries and supply chains the world depends on.

Technology is creating even greater opportunities for the next generation. AI, data and automation are transforming how we explore and operate. Their true value lies not in the technology itself, but in what people can achieve with it: better exploration, smarter operations, greater safety and efficiency, and stronger performance.

For a new generation of Saudi talent, this opens doors that did not exist before. At Maaden, young Saudis have the opportunity to contribute to projects of global scale and ambition while helping build a national industry whose impact extends around the world.

The value created does not stop with Maaden. As the mining industry grows, opportunities grow around it. Suppliers and SMEs develop. Jobs are created. Communities benefit. Entrepreneurs find new challenges to solve. This is how Saudi Arabia’s mineral potential becomes lasting value for the Kingdom and its people.

National transformation begins with individual decisions: the decision to learn, contribute, create and lead.

National Day reminds us that every generation builds on what came before it and has the opportunity to leave something of lasting value for those who follow.

Our people are not simply part of the Maaden story. They are the people writing its next chapters.

On this National Day, I hope more young Saudis will see themselves in that story and recognize the role they can play in creating lasting impact.

The future of Saudi Arabia will not simply be something your generation inherits. It will be something we build together.