COMPANIES and organizations may move their head offices to the capital Riyadh but Jeddah remains the Kingdom’s beating commercial metropolis — and within that metropolis, the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry (JCCI) is the voice of the private sector. Given its status and role, anything the JCCI does is of major importance.

It has recently adopted a deliberately proactive approach in its work in helping the private sector grow and in marketing the city. Indeed, it seems to be doing the latter quite aggressively. This change in style is not wholly unconnected with the election late last year of Abdullah Zainal as its new chairman. It may not amount to a completely new order but the new stance reflects Zainal’s outgoing ebullient "get-things-done" approach, which will, it is hoped, augur well for the Red Sea port city’s future development.

Zainal is determined to instill in the organization a whiff of fresh air. He wants to see the private sector prosper, especially small and medium businesses. He knows that it has to if it is to create jobs and thus aid the cause of Saudization. He also wants to see that tourism gets a boost in the city. He believes it has all the potential to become a favorite tourist destination quite apart from being the gateway to the holy cities of Makkah and Madinah.

After his election as chairman of the new 18-member JCCI board of directors in November (which also marked the appointment of former Chairman Ismail Abu Dawood as chairman emeritus for life), Zainal expressed his determination to focus on small and medium scale business establishments. "One of the board’s prime objectives is to train Saudis for the expanding job market. It also wants to focus on self-employment opportunities by training potential entrepreneurs," Zainal said.

The JCCI already has at its service an established administration section to train and employ young Saudis in the private sector in a bid to meet the requirements of the Saudi labor market, 80 percent of which is dominated by foreigners. The section thus functions within the framework of the Kingdom’s Saudization plan and works toward a triple goal: The development of a skilled indigenous labor force; meeting and overcoming the challenge of job opportunity creation; and the replacement of expatriates in the workforce. Zainal points out that, in cooperation with the JCCI Training Center, it offers special training services at affordable course fees for young Saudis, as well as training programs which meet the needs of a multitude of businesses. The center also cooperates and coordinates with official and private labor offices.

"Investment is a catalyst for job creation," he continues. "At the same time, it’s being recognized that training remains the single most important aspect in the implementation and realization of Saudization." Outlining the JCCI’s efforts in this direction, Zainal says training centers have been established across the Western Province by the JCCI and across the Kingdom by various other chambers of commerce and industry. They are all run in cooperation both with government and private sector agencies. In a bid to make Saudi labor skillful and competitive, training programs have been made attractive to Saudis by offering them incentives and not subsidies.

Zainal likes to emphasize that the JCCI Training Center has already spearheaded training programs in which behavioral skills are sharpened alongside professional skills. "Our graduates pursue higher studies and training and come back well equipped to either start their own businesses or take up jobs," he says.

The department also provides training in the franchise system and how they could run their franchises with the cooperation of franchisers either within the Kingdom or outside, according to Ziad B. Al-Bassam, a JCCI board member who in his private capacity is executive director of the Al-Bassam Group of Companies. "Thanks to various training schemes, an increasing number of Saudis are making themselves available or entering the job market, which is dominated by expatriates," he says. An active promoter of such training by the JCCI, Al-Bassam wants to see it increased even more. "What we need to do is to bring in a franchise system for plumbing, electrical and similar types of professions, which Saudis can run on their own. We provide courses in franchising. People thus would become well prepared to launch their own franchises once they are licensed by franchisers. However, the attitude toward franchising is still to develop and a lot more effort will be needed," he says.

Both Zainal and Al-Bassam accept the view that there is more to Jeddah than just business, that the JCCI can play a pivotal role in turning the city into one of the most popular destinations for both business and leisure travel. And given its role as the voice of the city’s private sector, the JCCI has enormous role to play toward this end.