Saudi Arabia is easing restrictions on women driving, finally allowing almost half its population to get behind the wheel.

A royal decree has been issued that will allow women in the country to drive, the Saudi Foreign ministry said Tuesday on its official Twitter account, reports the CNN.

A committee has been formed to implement the ruling and it will present recommendations within 30 days. Then the government will have until June 24, 2018, to implement the new decree.

"This is a historic big day in our kingdom," Prince Khaled bin Salman, Saudi Arabia's ambassador to the US, said Tuesday in a briefing with reporters.

State Department spokesman Heather Nauert said the US "would certainly welcome that" news, while UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres wrote on his official Twitter it was "an important step in the right direction."

The move to ease restrictions on women has huge implications for the Saudi economy and women's ability to work. It is just the latest in a series of changes that have been rippling through Saudi Arabia since the rise of 32-year-old Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

The crown prince, known casually as "MBS," is spearheading an ambitious plan to reform and transform the Saudi economy by 2030 and, in line with that goal, increase the number of women in the workforce.

Ambassador bin Salman described the step as "part of Vision 2030, which is a huge step toward a brighter future."

That plan for the country's economic reinvention rests on a number of pillars, including youth empowerment, social organization and women's empowerment, "which is an extremely important element of the changes happening in Saudi Arabia," the ambassador said.

"We are trying to increase women's participation in the workforce," bin Salman said.

"In order to change women's participation in the workforce we need them to be able to drive to work," said bin Salman, who is a son of the current king and a brother of the crown prince. "We need them to move forward, we need them to improve our economy."

The crown prince, who was appointed by his father to the position in June, is seen as a major power in the country and is expected by many to be named king before too long. 

BDST: 1220 HRS, SEP 27, 2017
AP