In this candid interview, Hussein Shobokshi, a well-known businessman, explains what needs to be done in order for the Kingdom to achieve real development.
How far are we Saudis from being a real part of the global community? Are we ready for — and capable of — joining the world stage? What are the major problems that might keep us from taking our place in the community and on the stage? Questions like these are asked everywhere; everybody in the Kingdom asks them but nobody has definitive answers. As news of each new development in the outside world reaches us, the importance of not only answering definitively but answering correctly and to our advantage increases.
Hussein Shobokshi is a well-known businessman. Among a number of important positions, he is a board member of the Makkah Chamber of Commerce and Industry and a member of the counseling committee in the Ministry of Commerce for World Trade Organization (WTO) negotiations. With such impressive credentials, it seemed obvious that he was someone to go to in search of answers. Whatever he may say and whatever he may do, Shobokshi certainly moves in the circles of movers and shakers, those who influence and decide policy.
In talking to him, the first question that came to mind was if there were any real need for the kind of academic specialization that we have emphasized so strongly in the past. “No. Our country needs citizens who are well-informed in more than one area.”
Shobokshi felt that his serving on a number of boards and committees was a necessity rather than an empty formality which filled time. He looks on it as an opportunity to “serve the community with my own experience and knowledge. I believe that knowledge helps society and if I can branch into different areas and help society, I am glad to do so.” He recommends the same course of action for all of us. This brings up the question of the value of work and the discipline that work should give. Shobokshi advocated work as something that should receive more consideration from family, school and society. He said that when he was only 12, he worked in a furniture store and that that job developed in him a work ethic and a sense about the value of work. “Schools should give students credit for taking part-time jobs. Our schools should look at work just as they look at math or biology classes. This is especially true now that the overriding national dilemma is how to make all of us aware of both the value and the necessity of work. Most of our youth have no motivation at all to work and many of those who do work see it only as a means of gaining money. Money is important of course but it is not the only reason people should work. Our problems are made greater by the belief that the country provides easy money in exchange for very little work. Motivation is basically what is needed and while schools can play a part, we must keep in mind that the environment of our young people goes beyond schools. What they see and hear is also a great influence.”
Shobokshi pointed out that the family is also a major player — perhaps the most important of all. “Everything begins with the family. If a person is brought up with the idea that he or she is above work, this is the beginning of real troubles and problems. Feeling ‘superior’ is the problem we have to face and overcome. We behave toward each other with that idea at the back of our minds and false attitudes spread from those who feel superior to others and it ends with society as a whole feeling it is somehow superior. Superior to what? To whom? This unfortunate feeling is reflected in our daily relations with one another as well as in how we treat foreigners. This feeling should be eliminated.” Shobokshi sees this as a major problem in Saudi society and he firmly believes that if society refuses to change on its own, the world will force it to. The casual attitude to work and the idea of superiority is only too apparent in job seekers who expect the best of jobs and salaries with the minimum amount of work.
For a businessman who is almost constantly on the lookout for employees, Shobokshi says he doesn’t attach a great deal of importance to resumes and CVs. “First of all, I check psychological readiness and capability. What counts is a positive attitude toward work.” He says that it is difficult to find good employees but that the situation is improving. At the same time, he is careful to point out, that “we have not reached the stage where we can begin to be satisfied with the quality of Saudi job applicants or with the quality of Saudi workers.”
Addressing the matter of Saudization, we wondered how capable we Saudis are to fill many jobs that are presently held by foreigners. To Shobokshi, the answer is not a matter of choice. “Soon we will run out of choice. We have to employ Saudis but doing so is more of job creation than job replacement. What we need to do is to create an active environment for business in which we can be sure there will be growth to accommodate Saudis and the non-Saudis who have been doing the jobs in the past.
“This leads naturally to the idea of opening up the economy in order to achieve growth. Easy enough to say but the work to support this opening up involves ‘futuristic’ business laws which means getting rid of meaningless routine, red tape and entrenched bureaucracy.” This is of vital importance, according to Shobokshi so that investments don’t go abroad. “We need to create safe havens for investment. The point is that we know what we need and now we have to make it happen. Knowing the need is of course a first step and a positive sign but there are in our country, as there are anywhere in the world, forces which resist change. The very idea of change and indeed the very word seems to frighten many people.”
As for those who oppose change, Shobokshi says, “There is a level of employees in every administration which is afraid of change. They are the first people who need to be replaced — not the clerks or security guards. We are now at the stage where we must start running and jumping just to keep up with the rest of the world.”
This brings up the question of our readiness to join the global economic community. Are we qualified to be a part of it? Shobokshi has some harsh words. “At the moment we are not. There are a lot of changes to be made. We must change the investment laws, the labor laws, improve managerial efficiency and open up the market for serious competition in areas such as aviation and telecommunications. You cannot expect me or anyone else to go into e-commerce with the present quality of Internet service we have in the Kingdom. The Internet problem springs from trying to prevent people from doing certain things. Whatever has been done, it has not prevented youth or anyone from going into chatrooms or using e-mails. By taking many things away from Internet users, the authorities have at the same time taken away the alternatives the Internet should provide: self-education, art, research and learning about other cultures.”
Shobokshi insists strongly that banning so many alternatives, so many Internet sites as well as so many books and so much art is all due to tradition and not religion. He sees this as hindering movement and limiting choices. If people — and particularly youth — encounter so many blocked sites, they naturally become frustrated and often become destructive as a result. What happens then is that energy is wasted on what is not beneficial. People are left with little to do except participate in sports. This kind of censorship and refusal to address people’s natural curiosities result in many Saudis having a dual character. They are able to live as they like when they are abroad but when they are at home, they have to settle for something less. This duality has now extended to include our behavior at home, at work and in society.”