Title: Southwest Asia: Oil Wealth Fuels Change
Headings: Southwest Asia: Oil Wealth Fuels Change
Southwest Asia: Oil Wealth Fuels Change
Meeting the Global Demand
Using Oil Wealth to Diversify
MODERNIZING THE INFRASTRUCTURE
DEVELOPING RESOURCES
HUMAN RESOURCES

Content: The biggest Saudi success story, however, was wheat production. The Saudis were determined to reduce their dependence on imported wheat. They improved water supplies so that grain production could be expanded. By 1992, they were producing more than four million tons of grain per year. This was enough to actually meet their needs and to have wheat to export. This diversification of the Saudi economy would not have happened without significant investment in infrastructure. That investment, in turn, was made possible by oil profits. Other nations are making efforts to develop other mineral resources. Oman revived its copper industry and chromium mines. Chromium is used in steel production for jet aircraft.