That's going to be very hard for them. They are lazy, held back by an archaic cult, have hired outsiders to do all their work for almost 100 years, do not have a trained labor force with any skills, have almost zero patents, do not have a major global transportation hub, do not have places that attract tourists, and do not have great universities. What an economic powerhouse.
If they get lucky, the world demand for sand will soar.
>>world demand for sand will soar
Art glass and solar power - sure winners
“do not have places that attract tourists”
That is a big exception to your other good points. They get mobs of muslim tourists for Mecca and Medina.
They include increased tourism in their 2030 vision, but as you rightly point out, they have a long way to go to develop a diversified economy.
And they have a short time to get there. Oil is unlikely to get expensive for any sustained length of time, with the US pumping, shale oil plentiful, and solar developing quickly.
One prospect is that they could invest in the near abroad, like agriculture in Iraq, and low-cost manufacturing in Yemen, as part of their diversification.
They still desperately need to be completely Blown to Hell.
Once the radiation subsides, and the stragglers neutralized, there are thousands and thousands of miles of great beaches. Resorts and universities should be encouraged to spring up, the dune-buggy and desert racing industries could proliferate...the Jews could come in and "make the desert bloom".
It could become the Las Vegas of the Middle East.