June 17, 2005

THE SAUDI MINISTER OF CULTURE AND INFORMATION OPENS THE SAUDI CULTURAL EVENT IN TUNISIA. MINISTER IYAD MADANI: THE KINGDOM IS ACHIEVING MODERNIZATION WITHOUT HESITATION. THE RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE THIRD ISLAMIC ECONOMIC CONFERENCE HELD IN MAKKAH AL MUKARRAMAH. Tunisian Prime Minister Mohammed Al-Ghanoushi received in Tunisia the Saudi Minister of Culture and Information, Iyad Ibn Ameen Madani. During the meeting, they exchanged cordial talks and discussed a number of issues of common interest. The reception was attended by Tunisian Minister of Culture and Protection of National Heritage Dr. Mohammed Al-Aziz Ibn Ashour and Saudi Ambassador to Tunisia Ahmed Al-Qahtani. In a press statement, Madani thanked Al-Ghanoushi for giving him the opportunity of expressing his views on the culture and media cooperation between the two countries. He added that they reviewed the activities of the Saudi Cultural Days festival, now in progress in Tunis and the joint ambitions in the sphere of enhancing the cultural cooperation. Minister of Culture and Information Iyad Ibn Ameen Madani and Tunisia's Minister of Culture and Protection of Heritage Mohamed Aziz Achour co-opened the Saudi cultural week. The event, held between June 3 and June 7, is an attempt to give Tunisian public a glimpse of the cultural view in the Kingdom. The event includes discussion groups and special galleries on the Two Holy Mosques, ancient manuscripts, the Hajj, calligraphy, and photos of the Two Holy Mosques by Princess Reem Mohammed Al-Faisal. Madani and the Saudi Ambassador to Tunisia Ahmed Ibn Ali Al-Qahtani addressed the opening ceremony, welcoming the Tunisian guests, led by Minister Achour. The week is held under the patronage of the Saudi Ministry of Culture and Information and Saudi Embassy in Tunis from June 3 to July 7. A number of Symposiums including one on "Saudi experiment in the preservation of manuscripts" will also be held during the festival. A play entitled "The Other Door" will also be staged on the fringes of the festival. Saudi ambassador to Tunisia Ahmed Ibn Ali Al-Qahtani told The Saudi Press Agency (SPA) that the aim of organizing such a festival is to get the Tunisian people to know about the Saudi Culture. Saudi Minister of Culture and Information Iyad Ibn Amin Madani opened the 1st symposium of Saudi Cultural Days currently in progress in Tunisia. Then Madani toured galleries of a number of Saudi artists on the fringes of the symposium. The symposium was attended by Saudi ambassador to Tunisia Ahmed Ibn Ali Al-Qahtani and a number of officials. Saudi Minister of Culture and Information Iyad Ibn Ameen Madani also attended a symposium on children's culture as well as a workshop on how children's reading habits be motivated. The symposium discussed all aspects of developing children's culture as well as the two countries' experiments in the field of cultural production. Following the symposium, Madani said the Ministry of Culture and Information is highly interested in promoting the culture of children and is aiming at creating new and aggressive activities concerning children's culture. He also underscored the importance of drawing common lines between the children's culture and their societies and values. The event was attended by Saudi ambassador to Tunisia Ahmed Ibn Ali Al-Qahtani, Saudi Deputy Minister of Culture and Information for Information Affairs Dr. Abdullah Al-Jaser, and a number of officials. Tunisian Minister of Culture and Heritage preservation Dr. Muhammad Ibn Ashour met with Saudi Minister of Culture and Information Iyad Madani and his accompanying delegation over means of enhancing bilateral cooperation in spheres of information and culture. Both sides, then, held a session under co-chairmanship of Madani and Ashour with the attendance of a number of officials from the two sides. A Tunisian source said Madani confirmed during the meeting that Saudi-Tunisian relations are deep-rooted and that they share a number of things, including heritage, civilization and language. Madani also said the Saudi cultural week scheduled to open doors in Tunisia is an attempt to give Tunisian public a glimpse of the cultural view in the Kingdom. He expressed hope that this would be a kick off of a continuous action of cultural exchange between both countries. Tunisian cultural weeks and activities are welcome in Saudi Arabia as well, he said, adding that cultural cooperation is the base for all kinds of cooperation. He also said cultural exchange creates rapprochement and amicability among peoples of the two countries. The Saudi official had arrived to supervise the opening of the Saudi cultural week. Minister of Culture and Information Iyad Ibn Ameen Madani confirmed that relations between the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Tunisia are deep-rooted and that they share a number of things, including heritage, civilization and language. In a joint press conference with Tunisia's Minister of Culture and Protection of Heritage Mohamed Aziz Achour following their meeting in Tunis, Madani said the Saudi cultural week scheduled to open doors in Tunisia is an attempt to give Tunisian public a glimpse of the cultural view in the Kingdom. He expressed hope that this would be a kick off of a continuous action of cultural exchange between the two countries. Tunisian cultural weeks and activities are welcome in Saudi Arabia as well, he said, adding that cultural cooperation is the base for all kinds of cooperation. He said cultural exchange creates rapprochement and amicability among peoples of the two countries. Saudi Minister of Culture and Information Iyad Ibn Amin Madani said that Saudi Cultural Days aim to show glimpses of the Kingdom's culture including poetry, novel, story, play and plastic art. During a banquet held in his honor by Saudi ambassador to Tunisia Ahmed bin Ali Al-Qahtani, he added that Saudi Ministry of Culture and Information is aiming to continue cultural cooperation between the two countries. Madani also said that Saudi intellectuals in their developmental process face the same questions as do the Tunisian intellectuals. On the other hand, the Tunisian Minister of Culture and Heritage Preservation Dr. Mohammed Al-Aziz Ibn Ashour praised Saudi-Tunisian relations in the cultural field. During his visit to Tunisia the Saudi Minister of Culture and Information Iyad Ibn Amin Madani visited the Arab States Broadcasting Union (ASBU) headquarters, an affiliate to the Arab League. Minister Madani held a meeting with the Union's President Abdul Hafeez Al-Hirqam and discussed the latest activities of the Union and ways to enhance cooperation between the Union and the Saudi Broadcasting and TV. The Minister looked forward to close cooperation between the Kingdom and the Union in all services provided for the benefit of the Saudi Broadcasting and TV. The Saudi Minister of Culture and Information Iyad Ibn Ameen Madani opened the activities of traditional arts within the framework of the Saudi Cultural Days Festival, which is now in progress in Tunis. The opening ceremony was attended by Saudi Ambassador to Tunisia Ahmed Al-Qahtani. Also, Madani paid a visit to 'Al-Najmah Al-Zahra' palace and was briefed on its belongings. In a press statement, he thanked Tunisian Minister of Culture and Protection of National Heritage Dr. Mohammed Al-Aziz Ibn Ashour and expressed happiness over visiting Tunisia and meeting with Tunisian Prime Minister Mohammed Al-Ghanoushi. He added that the two countries should go beyond these Cultural Days Festival which would be concluded soon and the bilateral cultural cooperation to satisfy the joint ambitions. He noted the importance of a working session he had held with Dr. Ashour and the meeting between the Under Secretary of the Saudi Culture and Information Ministry, Dr. Abdullah Al-Jasser, and the officials of the Tunisian Ministry of Culture and Protection of National Heritage. Saudi Minister of Culture and Information Iyad Ibn Ameen Madani left Tunis after having co-reopened the Saudi Cultural Days festival in Tunisia with the Tunisian Minister of Culture and Heritage Protection Dr. Mohamed Aziz Achour. He was seen off at Gartaj International Airport by Minister of Culture and Heritage Protection Dr. Mohamed Aziz Achour, Saudi Ambassador to Tunisia Ahmed bin Ali Al-Qahtani and a number of officials from the two sides. From his side the Saudi ambassador to Tunisia Ahmed Ibn Ali Al-Qahtani has described the bilateral relations between Saudi Arabia and Tunisia as good and said these ties are continually developing in all domains. In a statement to the Tunisian Arabic newspaper, on the eve of Saudi-Tunisian Cultural week, the Ambassador said the observance of the week is preceded by high-level symposiums and cultural activities that had been attended by senior Saudi critics and writers. One of the symposiums organized by the Saudi embassy in Tunis was entitled "Arab National Culture and Globalization." He added that these events reflected the unique Saudi-Tunisian cultural relations. Saudi Ambassador to Tunisia Ahmed Ibn Ali Al-Qahtani lauded the existing ties binding the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Tunisia in all fields, particularly the cultural field. Highlighting the first Saudi Tunisian Cultural festival held in Tunis and co-organized by the Saudi Ministry of Culture and Information and Tunis-based Embassy on one hand and the Tunisian Ministry of Culture and Heritage Maintenance on the other, the Ambassador said such events are designed to introduce the culture and society of the Saudi people to their Tunisian brothers and strengthen ties between intellectuals in the two countries. Al-Qahtani cited several cultural events held by Saudi exhibitors in Tunisia over the last few years. Meanwhile the third Islamic economic conference, which concluded its deliberations at Um Al-Qura University in Makkah Al Mukkaramah, has called for the establishment of an Islamic capital market by central banks as well as Islamic banks and other financial institutions in Muslim countries. The conference emphasized the need for enhancing economic cooperation among the 57-member Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) countries to set up powerful economic blocs capable of facing international competition and dealing with global economic organizations. The three-day conference, which was opened by Abdullah Al-Faiz, undersecretary at the Makkah governorate, urged supervising authorities in Muslim countries to monitor activities of Islamic financial and insurance firms. "The conference called upon Muslim governments to upgrade curricula of Islamic economic departments at their universities to help them get along with labor market requirements," according to a final communiqué issued by the conference. The conferees also proposed the setting up of special panels at Islamic insurance companies to ensure they comply with Shariah regulations. They urged Islamic governments to set up independent corporations for the collection and distribution of Zakat efficiently. They also emphasized the need to modernize endowment establishments to help them cope with modern economic developments in order to tackle poverty, ignorance and disease. The conference urged the establishment of a joint reserve fund for Islamic banks to support them with liquid money whenever required. It called for the repatriation of funds to promote economic and social development in Muslim states. The communiqué urged greater economic, administrative, judicial, financial and monetary reforms in the OIC member states. "Educational development in Islamic countries must be linked with the comprehensive national development plan," it said, adding that more money must be allocated for research, training and development. The conferees called for the establishment of national technological research centers to promote research in the member states. "We have to take adequate measures to control fluctuation of exchange rate of currencies to encourage trade exchange among the OIC states." Other recommendations of the conference were: Tough measures to prevent money laundering as well as economic and administrative corruption; more efforts to promote privatization of state-owned corporations; and financial institutions must comply with edicts of authorized Islamic 'Fiqh' councils. Islamic countries continue to face challenges in integrating technology into their economy, according to experts at the third Islamic economic conference held last week in Makkah. These challenges are manifested in their poor infrastructure, which is preventing these countries from entering into e-commerce Arab news says. Dr. Abid Al-Abdali presented a research paper detailing the reality and challenges facing Islamic countries and how far behind they are in information technology compared with other countries. "The degree of the IT problem differs from one country to another. Some don't even have a technology base or educational support in addition to lack of adequate investment. Others have a deficiency in their legal, financial and administrative structure connected with the IT sector," said Al-Abdali. He said that among the reasons for these problems is the low technology culture and awareness among society members, which plays an important role in the spread and development of e-commerce. He referred to studies that point to the obvious relationship between computer availability and Internet usage. Most Islamic countries have limited computer access for students throughout their education. Another reason for the inadequate IT in Islamic countries is the insufficient human resources, according to Al-Abdali. The challenge that most commercial establishments face in the Islamic countries is their inability to transform themselves from conducting their transactions from the traditional way to electronic. "They also don't realize the importance of e-commerce. Among the obstacles they would face is the lack of experience in e-commerce and technical support they need to transform their business into an electronic business. In addition, e-commerce is still limited in the region whether between the companies themselves and between them and their local suppliers and consumers," he said. However, a recent Visa International report indicated that electronic consumer spending in the Middle East has increased during the first quarter of this year. Internet sales in the GCC member countries reached $20 million, an increase of 600 percent compared with this period last year, according to the report published by Al-Hayat newspaper. The UAE is the leader in e-commerce in the Middle East but transactions in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar and Bahrain have multiplied 15 times. The reason for this increase is that governments in the region have taken up the initiative of e-commerce in the past few years and many Gulf countries are relying on ATMs for their transactions. Many companies are taking notice of this new trend. Dubai based Madar Research predicts that Internet connections will increase from 17 million to 52 million in the Arab world over the next three years. This will put the Net ahead of satellite TV in terms of growth, and offers huge potential for the advertising and marketing goods and services. Among the industries already focusing on Internet advertising in the region is the automotive. According to a preliminary study conducted by Impact Proximity iMedia, Middle East Automotive online ad spending actually exceeded the $1 million mark in 2004, an increase of 100 percent over 2003. Another sector seeing a growth in sales due to the Internet is publishing. Book sales regionally and internationally have increased dramatically in the past year, and the largest growth has been in online book sales, according to Bharat Jashanmal, managing director of online retail site Hadaiya.com. The Internet is far from being the unreliable, young, black sheep of the regional media scene. It is perhaps the most reliable and cost-effective way to reach a target audience and market a product, according to Martin Diessner, CEO Flip Media. Marketers first have to convince the companies of the profitability of advertising on the Net. In the Middle East, "The market isn't sold on the idea of going online and for good reason: there hasn't been any information to convince them that setting aside a chunk of the marketing budget for online media is actually a wise decision. So far, the young industry is relatively unexplored in terms of innovative and inventive online marketing. But, like any young evolving entity, it has grown fast and the preconceptions that existed two years ago are no longer valid or true," he said.