JEDDAH, 27 December 2004 — The Second Jeddah Industrial Forum, inaugurated by Jeddah Governor Prince Mishaal at Westin Hotel here yesterday, discussed ways of developing investment and manpower in industry.
It was stressed that the main and valuable resource in any kind of economic activity is manpower, regardless of energy, technical and mineral resources. Without proper manpower to make use of these other resources, “the wheels will not turn.”
The forum was attended by Adel Fakeeh, chairman, Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry (JCCI), a large number of businessmen and industrialists, and JCCI executives.
Dr. Haifa Jamalallail, dean of Effat College, made a presentation on the nationalization of the industrial sector and how to build an integrated strategy between different sectors of the economy in order to achieve sustainable growth.
She stressed that the changes taking place all over the world required an action plan and not writing strategies. “We should remove the weaknesses that we have in our labor market, especially the one that will feed the industrial sector. What we really need to do is to create an education and training infrastructure only for the industrial sector that will help the former as much as the economy in order to reach its objectives,” she said.
Dr. Haifa said that manufacturing was an important element for growth of any economy. “Despite technology, we will not be able to reach the growth that we really need, without manufacturing,” she said.
She told Arab News that she saw more involvement of women in the industrial sector. “There should not be any segregation there because of the nature of the sector. It is important to work together in order to reach the objectives,” she said.
A highlight of the forum was a proposal for replacement of expatriates with trained and appropriate Saudi work force. In a presentation, the word used was “nationalization,” giving a wider dimension to the process of Saudization. It was explained that this has a much wider connotation that takes into consideration the need for developing and training the Saudi manpower to the level where they will be able to replace the expats without affecting the efficiency and productivity of industrial units.
Saud O. Ounallah, general director, JCCI, said he preferred the word nationalization and replacement of expats with Saudis. “This has worked tremendously and proved to be very effective in Aramco,” he said. As for the Saudi, he should learn that life is not easy. He has to work hard or else face difficulty in finding a job. “Commitment and attitude to work has to be instilled in our Saudi young men and women,” he said.
