Ain-Al-Yaqeen - February 25, 2005

		February 25, 2005

JEDDAH 6TH ECONOMIC FORUM: '' BUILDING OF CAPABILITIES, DEVELOPMENT OF INDIVIDUALS FOR ACHIEVEMENT OF SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT.''
PRINCE ABDUL MAJEED IBN ABDUL AZIZ: YOUTH REPRESENT A LARGE SECTION OF HUMAN RESOURCES AND THE KINGDOM IS PROUD OF THEM.
PRINCE TURKI AL-FAISAL CALLS ON SAUDI ECONOMISTS TO PLAY A POSITIVE ROLE IN CONTACT WITH THEIR COUNTERPARTS ABROAD TO INVEST IN THE KINGDOM.
THE FORUM CALLS ON GOVERNMENTS TO BENEFIT FROM QUALIFIED PEOPLE IN THE PRIVATE SECTOR.

Prince Abdul Majeed Ibn Abdul Aziz, the Governor of Makkah region patronized the inauguration ceremony of Jeddah Economic 6th Forum for 2005 titled '' Building of Capabilities, Development of Individuals for Achievement of Sustainable Development''.

In his inaugural speech, Prince Abdul Majeed noted that the Forum has become a milestone in intellectual and economic activities in the Kingdom, expressing hope that the Kingdom will achieve through these intellectual events a distinguished position in their civilized and scientific contributions.

Makkah Governor Prince Abdul Majeed called for overcoming the challenges confronting the nation. "The challenges that face us are not just economical, but ideological and intellectual as well," he said formally inaugurating the 6th Jeddah Economic Forum at the Hilton. "Our mission should not be confined to only building material things, but also include building the minds for shaping our destiny," he said and expressed his gratitude and appreciation for all those who were honored for their efforts in making the previous JEF events a success.

Prince Abdul Majeed stressed that youth represents a large section of human resources and the kingdom is proud of its youth.

Then prince Abdul Majeed handed over memorial gifts on this occasion to presidents and premiers participating in the conference. He also honored Prince Sultan Ibn Salman Ibn Abdul Aziz, the Secretary General of Tourism Higher Committee.

More than 2,000 national and overseas participants attended the three-day forum whose theme is "Capacity building: Developing people for sustainable growth".

Many prominent figures and heads of states from Afghanistan, Senegal, Pakistan, Singapore, Malaysia and other countries were among the keynote speakers and participants.

Prince Turki Al-Faisal, the Saudi Ambassador to Britain, called on Saudi economists to play a positive role in contact with their counterparts abroad to invest in the Kingdom.

Addressing Jeddah Economic Forum, Prince Turki pointed out that investment in the Kingdom has been prospering and steadily progressing, adding that the Kingdom is a promising market for all.

Prince Turki Al-Faisal stressed the Kingdom's keenness on keeping abreast of the era, confronting challenges and providing facilities for pushing forward the economy, commercial exchange as well as the protection of investment.

He noted that the economic indicators reflect the strength of the Saudi economy.

Minister of Finance Dr. Ibrahim Al-Assaf said generating capital and infrastructure development were among the priority areas. Jeddah Chamber of Commerce & Industry Chairman Adel Faqeeh, JEF 2005 Chairman Amr Enany and Laura Tyson, dean of the London Business School, the event's academic partner for the second year in a row, also made remarks at the inauguration.

During the session, world leaders urged Saudis to visit their countries, see the progress made and consider projects for investment. Both Afghan President Hamid Karzai and Pakistan Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz took the opportunity as keynote speakers to graphically portray the emerging scenario in their countries and said Saudi investors who have been investing worldwide should come forward and participate in the development of the Kingdom's brotherly countries.

Aziz spoke on early challenges, obstacles and successes encountered by Pakistan in its transformation after the instability of the 1990s. Karzai, who followed him, painted a rosy picture of war-torn Afghanistan that was now marching ahead with peace and prosperity.

Karzai's address was titled "Rebirth of a nation: motivating a broken soul." He pointed out that his country, which maintained good relations with the United States and neighbouring countries including Pakistan, had new laws and strategies to consolidate its economic capabilities to attract foreign investments. Referring to the role of Afghan women in the plan for growth, Karzai said: "Women in Afghanistan, whose participation in the national election exceeded 40 percent, do have a role in nation building." He singled out tourism and infrastructure among the areas where vast opportunity was available for overseas investors.

Aziz referred to the recent acquisition by Saudi investors of the Karachi Electricity Company and focused on some more projects.

"We're developing special economic zones adjacent to the Gwadar seaport that has been recently constructed. We're also establishing a textile city in Karachi," he said and wanted investors to look at the opportunities within their region and close neighbourhood. "Pakistan is now a very investor-friendly destination with lot of opportunities in various sectors that ensure healthy returns and risk rewards."

Aziz wanted Saudis to take a fresh look at Pakistan. "Today's Pakistan is different from the Pakistan of yesteryears. The Pakistan of today has done a complete makeover. It has a new face winning the hearts and minds of the international community while facing up to the twin challenges of globalization and economic prosperity. Above all, Pakistan offers immense investment opportunities," he said.

Referring to the so-called clash of civilizations, Aziz said: "The current geopolitical environment calls for an introspection by the Muslim Ummah. We need to proactively project the true philosophy of Islam, which emphasizes tolerance, moderation and peace. We've to wash out the negative perceptions about our religion and challenge cliches like clash of civilizations." He urged the Organization of the Islamic Conference to initiate steps that would challenge such cliches. "Pakistan will support every step that the OIC takes to meet such challenges."

The two leaders also separately addressed press conferences in which they answered a range of questions concerning their bilateral ties with the Kingdom and other countries.

"Where is Osama Bin Laden" was the question posed to both of them. Both answered in the negative about the knowledge of the Al-Qaeda chief.

Aziz was asked about Pakistan's relations with India. "We're working on all sectors and trying to find solutions to all our bilateral issues, including the core issue of Kashmir," he said.

There were also addresses by Madinah Governor Prince Muqrin, Commerce and Industry Minister Dr. Hashim A. Yamani, and Transportation Minister Jubara Al-Suraisry among others. Prince Muqrin posed the question whether governance had to be devolved or centralized, and Yamani discussed at length the current state of soft and hard infrastructures. Minister of Industry and Commerce

Dr. Hashim Yamani delivered a speech at the evening session of Jeddah Economic Forum.

In the speech, he discussed issues pertaining to sustainable development.

In another speech at the session, Minister of Transport Dr. Jubara Al-Suraisry disclosed the kingdom's intention to build a railway linking the kingdom's eastern and western ports.

The Chairman of the session, Minister of State and Member of the Cabinet Abdullah Zainal, moderated the discussions that followed the two speeches.

In an unprecedented move, the sixth Jeddah Economic Forum 2005 held a special session for the interaction and involvement of youth. "Voice of the Future" was presided by its moderators Dr. Haifa Jamalallail, dean of Effat College, Saudi Arabia, and Dr. Ghazi Binzagr, president of Arabian Stores Co. Ltd., Saudi Arabia.

Dr. Haifa, also the president of the JCCI's Women's Committee, said that the wrong that is widespread in society is focusing on the mistakes that youth commit while not listening to the youth and enabling them to express their opinions and ideas so they can participate in development and growth. She lauded the session as a step in the right direction with the youth, with their ages ranging between 15-20 years, estimated to make up 60 percent of the Kingdom's population.

"We hear from heads of state, rightly so because they've something important to say," said Binzagr in his opening statement. "Equally important are the youth." He said the goal of the session was to put the youth on center stage and to hear directly from them. He went on to say that instead of youth being considered as part of the problem, they could very much be part of the solution if they are given the chance.

The session was host to a selected group chosen on the basis of diversity in nationality and fields of study and interest.

There was also a discussion on whether the private sector was a vital driver of local government in which a panel of speakers including Jeddah Mayor Abdullah Al-Moallami, Mohamed Ibn Ali Alabbar of Dubai and Civil Aviation Director Abdullah Al Rehemi took part.

Pakistan's Investment and Privatization Minister Dr. Abdul Hafiz Shaikh in his presentation wanted the Islamic Development Bank's member states to seriously consider why they remained behind in foreign direct investment and export of manufactured goods.

Drawing on examples and experience in UK business, Prince Andrew delivered a measured presentation of the benefits of investment in education and skills training. He contended that governments provided a framework for investment in people that is fundamental to business. "The need for government to provide the opportunity in excellence in learning and skill is probably the single best investment we can make for our nation's future," he said.

Stressing the importance of partnership between government and business, he said that governments could only provide the framework and emphasized that employers should provide opportunities for their employees. "Employers are then more likely to see their business grow and develop."

Identifying the biggest economic challenge for any country as the need to maintain its position and prosperity in an increasingly competitive global marketplace, governments, he said, have to work hard to create the best environment for business success in their country and the consequent prosperity for their citizens.

Governments though face difficult choices: How exactly to introduce new skills for the developing economy; how to adapt to different national and international demands on business practice and the workforce; and how to lay strong foundations for future prosperity.

"There is recognition in the UK that the skills of employees will be of growing importance to business productivity and profitability," said Prince Andrew, "and that the skills required are constantly changing."

In the UK 75 percent of senior managers believe effective staff development will be vital or important to future productivity; only 30 percent put this at the top of their list when faced with competing priorities, such as new technology, knowledge of competitors and research and development. Companies are often reliant on the local education system to provide them with the right "raw material" in terms of staff resource. "Governments must think strategically and set priorities, aims and objectives, but they have to be done with a time frame of what it is going to be required in 25 years rather than in the next few."

Government can tackle skills shortages through listening more to employers and investing in the education infrastructure and delivering those skills in the nearer term. "Employers need to have a mechanism to relay their needs and concerns to the government," he said.

"Government, business and the education sector all working closely together will produce a workforce ready and suited for current and future business needs whether intellectual or industrial. This holistic approach is essential: Apprentice and skills education must, above all else, be rooted in current industrial practice and needs. It is important to remember that these can be modified or changed with much greater ease than changing the longer term priorities. I know that the Saudi government recognizes the need to create a deeper and wider skills pool, and is devoting considerable resources to developing a vocational training system."

In what many took to be a oblique reference to the greater employment of women, Prince Andrew said that up to 75 percent of employers found family-friendly, flexible policies were often cost-free to introduce. If a business does not employ a diverse workforce, it may well miss out on valuable skills and experience.

"Most consider these practices to have been cost beneficial for their business." Citing the example of British Telecom, he said that home-based workers proved to be 15 to 30 percent more productive.

Prime Minister of Malaysia Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, set the stage for the first session of day two at the Jeddah Economic Forum by presenting the Malaysian experience in human resource development, the theme of the day and of the forum as a whole.

By giving a brief background on the stages of the Malaysian human capital transformation and the outline for the basis of its financial investment and strategic development of the infrastructure, Badawi presented a plan that proved successful and exceeded expectations for the Malaysian economic progress. His main focus though was the importance of quality education as the foundation for human development.

Badawi stated that Malaysia's obsession with human capital formation and human resource development was only put in place in the early 1990s. Before that, as a newly independent nation, there were other priorities that had to be implemented, which are peace and security. At that time Malaysia was in turmoil, the average annual rate of economic growth was 3.5%, barely able to keep pace with the rate of population growth, it manufactured practically nothing, infrastructure was non-existent, and illiteracy and birth rate high.

The World Bank predicted that Malaysia would have a medium to long-term sustained average annual rate of growth of 3.5%. However, from 1969 onward things began to change in Malaysia as a result of determined national leadership, and since then it has had a sustainable annual rate of 7%.

"I say all this in order to stress not only that development is a difficult process but also to stress that development is not a 'one size fit all' proposition," said Badawi. This does not mean that countries cannot learn from the experience of others, but each has to devise its own unique winning formula to grow and develop, advised Badawi. Nevertheless, Badawi emphasized the importance of human resource development.

Malaysia's vision 2020 states that the most important resource of any nation must be the talents, skills, creativity and will of its people. In the 1990s, Malaysia gave its fullest emphasis on developing its ultimate resource, its people. Ten years later, as it entered the new millennium, Malaysia adopted the 'Knowledge-based economy master plan' which they called their 'Strategic initiative one of the 21st century'.

"This initiative is aimed at transforming a largely input-driven production-based economy into a productivity-driven knowledge-intensive economy," said Badawi. The single most important element of this plan is the accumulation and development of the human resources necessary to make the jump. The reason for this focus, according to Badawi, is because the post-industrial economies are strongest in service and in high value-added services. "Quality and high-value output is the result of thinking and planning, execution and implementation by smart people," said Badawi. Therefore, what is needed to provide high quality service is people who are truly knowledgeable, creative, innovative and energetic.

This is where quality education comes into play. "Malaysia's strategists, planners and implementers have had no choice but to be tightly focused on where the action promises the highest returns," said Badawi. He explained that a national program for human capital formation and human resource development can be super-efficient and over productive at low cost but can be a disaster if what is being produced is not what is needed. For Malaysia, they want to produce a world-class workforce that is employable, empowered and disciplined, able to adjust to changing work needs, with a commitment to life-long learning.

He listed some criteria for this workforce including English competence. "Improving the education of our people and eradicating poverty are among Malaysia's most important strategies today," said Badawi. Among the key steps taken is the establishment of a human resource development fund to finance workers keen on acquiring skills and offer incentives to companies wishing to invest in training their staff.

Badawi called on all the Muslim world to have careful and effective human resource development and stronger poverty alleviation measures and to help each other, which is the goal of his initiative for the capacity building program in the Organization of Islamic Conference. "It is my belief that enhanced capacity is a key step in our journey toward greater unity, dignity and progress of the Ummah," concluded Badawi.

At the press conference that followed, Badawi answered questions on community harmony in Malaysia, and he said that despite some disturbances, there is harmony because the government has a policy of equal rights to everyone.

In response to a question on the effects of Tsunami, Badawi said that it only had minor effect on the Malaysian economy but there were some areas of the country that were damaged but due to immediate action by the government, it was able to rectify the situation.

The head of the Supreme Commission for Tourism (SCT), Prince Sultan Ibn Salman, said that the tourism sector is considered the fastest growing sector internationally and offers the best environment to create jobs for youth.

He said the Kingdom is developing this vital sector based on this perspective, and the SCT created a strategy to boost the tourism sector.

He praised the Saudization plans in the tourism sector, especially the agreement between the Supreme Commission for Tourism and the Labor Ministry to create more jobs in this sector. He said that Saudization is a reality and the SCT is looking to Saudize 80% of the sector.

Prince Sultan made this statement during the second day of the 6th Jeddah Economic Forum at the session on tourism.

Prince Sultan said that the SCT benefited from the experiences of other countries and developed a tourism sector that is playing an important role in the local economy. He cited the plan to make road travel easy in the Kingdom as one example. He said, firstly, road travel between Riyadh and Dammam would be made easier and comfortable with the building of rest houses on the route at set distances to enable the travellers a easier journey. After this sector, the SCT plans to set up the houses in different routes.

He also emphasized that training programs have been instituted to develop qualified and talented manpower who would, in turn, create an environment that would enable the sector to compete on international standards. This, in the process, will drive the local economy. The sector has also generated interest among investors, especially the Gulf investors who have shown a marked interest in this sector.

He cited the Malaysian experience in the field of tourism as an example of success. Despite hosting different cultures Malaysia has developed its tourism sector into one of the most lucrative one.

Egypt's Minister of Tourism Ahmad Al-Maghrabi said tourism is a modern and fast-growing industry that supports many livelihoods. It is also one of the means to communicate with other nations and also treading the path of economic globalization, he added.

He said the Egyptian tourism sector has been growing fast the past few years. The number of tourist nights increased to 8 million nights and bookings by 16%. He added the Egyptian government has launched programs to develop the tourism industry, including training and awareness programs to more than 14,000 trainees.

Labor Minister Gosaibi emphasized that the ongoing program of Saudization was in full swing and all qualified and skilled Saudis would find jobs. The Kingdom has 75 training institutes with extensive courses for various professions and vocations. "They're expected to train 300,000 young Saudis within three years," the minister said, adding that education is also being given due importance with the opening of 40 more secondary schools Kingdomwide.

The apprehensions expressed by the private sector that they are still not fully prepared to Saudize their staff are unfounded, according to him. "They're used to importing foreign labor for the last 30 years and naturally find it difficult to carry on without them. They should be able to get over the passing phase and adjust themselves to the growing reality of employing Saudi labor," he said.

The minister also mentioned the Saudization of limousine drivers and said the implementation had to be deferred, as the companies were not fully prepared. "But then this has to come sooner than later and all private sector companies have to show their preparedness to implement the program," he said. "This, however, does not mean that the Kingdom can do without foreign labor. We'll still need skilled labor until our own labor is fully trained to take over."

The post-lunch session witnessed an interesting panel discussion in which former US Secretary of State Madeleine K. Albright was among the participants.

Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa taking part in the discussion said poverty eradication ought to be the topmost agenda for any backward or developing nation. "This does not mean that fight against terrorism has to take the back seat. It only means that poverty eradication should be tackled first, followed by the fight against terrorism," he said.

Brazil's Foreign Relations Minister Celso Amorim gave his country's perspective of foreign policy revolution. "Brazil is experiencing a new awakening toward the Arab world. This is inspired by strong links forged by history and culture," he said. "Not all of you maybe aware that more than 10 million Brazilians trace their ancestry to the Middle East. We've the largest community of people of Arab descent outside the Arab world," he said, adding that aside from the initiatives at the bilateral level his country has been seeking to strengthen ties with regional entities such as the Arab League of which it became the first observer country from South America in 2003.

There were also sessions on building the workforce for the 21st century, fostering innovation and creativity, and embracing womanhood.

The Secretary General of Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development Donald Johnston said Saudi Arabia is serious in seeking to improve the investment climate and administrative procedures.

In a statement to Saudi Press Agency, he said his current visit to the kingdom aims at boosting cooperation between the kingdom and the organization.

The 6th Jeddah Economic Forum ended with call for developing human resources.

Almost all speakers who addressed the three-day forum observed that Saudization was achievable through a sustained program of education, training, and imparting and raising skills.

Singapore's Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong gave one of the best examples. "Underpinning Singapore's economic transformation and growth are our considerable investments in education, which is the best way to enhance human capacity," he said in his address on "A precious renewable resource."

Studies have shown that countries that have achieved the fastest growth rate are those whose citizens have been properly educated and have applied the knowledge they acquired to the production of goods and services, Goh said.

Saudi Arabia has almost half of its population under 15 years of age. "This is a huge asset if heavy investments are made in their education and training of skills. You have the resources to do this, unlike Singapore which had to first create the resources to invest in its people."

Algerian Minister of Labor and Social Affairs Al-Tayeb Laouh said the upcoming Arab League summit in his country would help further to realize the hopes and aspirations of Arabs. Algeria has been able to turn the corner by mobilizing its human and economic resources he said.

George Soros, chairman of Soros Fund Management, LLC and founder of the US-based Open Society Institute, said that an Arab Cultural Foundation is being established to forge oneness in various fields of social and cultural activities.

The foundation, to be based in the region, will have a corpus fund of $15 million to be raised in the first three years of its formation. The fund will serve composite interests, ranging from art and culture to poetry, theatre and museum, said Soros who vehemently opposed the war on terror since it was launched in the wake of 9/11.

The next JEF will be on Feb. 18-20, 2006, Ghassan Al-Sulaiman, vice chairman of the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and chairman of Jeddah Marketing Board, the JCCI's events organizing wing, announced at the closing session.