As soon as King Khalid settled into office, he convened a ministerial cabinet that consisted of highly qualified technocrats who would be responsible for the implementation of massive development programs and projects throughout the Kingdom. These ambitious schemes were not limited to public and utility systems, but also aimed at restructuring and upgrading the economy, government agencies, and the creation of new jobs. In order to cope with such rapid changes, the Ministry of Industry and Electricity, the Royal Commission of Jubail and Yanbu and SABIC were created to assume control of petrochemical and related industries. In parallel, new universities were launched, such as Um Al-Qurra University in Makkah and King Faisal University in Al-Ahsa, along with the expansion of existing universities. More than 25,000 students were also sent on various scholarships abroad for higher and advanced education.

New transportation schemes were launched. These included the construction of King AbdulAziz International Airport in Jeddah, King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh, as well as numerous domestic airports, new highways, road networks, bridges and tunnels. In addition, new communication schemes were launched including advanced telephone and television networks.