RIYADH, 7 December 2005 — The Riyadh Economic Forum’s third day session yesterday focused on railways, roads, airports, and seaports in the Kingdom. The session was headed by Minister of Transport Dr. Jubara Al-Suraisari and included a panel that consisted of Engineer Abdullah Al-Rihaimi, Engineer Khaled Al-Yahya and Dr. Khaled Al-Kurdi.
Dr. Amir Alwan gave the main speech where he talked about the transport sector in the Kingdom, saying that the budget reserved for transportation was SR3.6 billion. He also said that the amount allocated for operating transportation methods in the Kingdom — roads, seaports, airports, and railway — amounted to SR300 million.
Alwan said that one of the main challenges the transport sector in the Kingdom faced was the shortage in roads, railroads, and airports, stressing the importance of cooperation between the public and private sectors to develop alliance in this sector which will serve the business, economical, and social demands of the Kingdom.
He also said that a clear strategy regarding transport should be verified where both sectors would know the responsibilities allocated to them, adding that it was important to learn from the experiences of other countries in this matter.
Khaled Al-Yahya said in his introduction that it was vital to open more doors for investment in the transport sector, stressing that before any sector is privatized all related activities should be prepared to minimize negative results. He also said it was necessary that an independent organizational commission for privatization be established in the Kingdom.
Abdullah Al-Rihaimi said that the aviation sector in the Kingdom flies 2 million passengers a year via the national carrier. He said that the sector only contributes 8 percent in the gross national economy. He also said that the aviation sector in the Kingdom lacked many things such as special benefits and limited job opportunities. Part of this problem was because of the current laws in this sector, he added, adding that the civil aviation has put a new strategy that will implement on this front soon.
Dr. Khalil Kurdi expressed his delight to the regulation issued by the Supreme Economic Council regarding the privatization of the Saudi Arabian Airlines, being the national carrier of the Kingdom.
Answering a question about the poor services of public transportation in the Kingdom and investment in that area, the Minister of Transport Dr. Jubara Al-Suraisiri said that bids for building rest areas on many of the Kingdom’s highways have already been given to a number of businessmen, adding that the doors would be closed for future bidding in this matter. The minister also said that a study is currently being conducted on public transportation in the Kingdom and that there would be a dramatic change to improve public services in transport, particularly in Riyadh where the ministry was cooperating with the Higher Commission for the Development of Riyadh to develop the Kingdom’s first metro system.
Tayba Al-Idreesi expressed her opinion via microphone from the lady’s section saying that the two holy cities of Makkah and Madinah lacked the basic public transportation system that suited the importance of both cities in the Islamic world.
The summary of the session said that the Kingdom has a great potential for roads that could be part of its future vision after joining the WTO as merchandise could be easily driven to any seaport for exportation or importation. It also said that the construction of the new railway system that will link north Saudi Arabia to its south and its east to west would help flourish domestic tourism in the country and at the same time minimize the burden on airports.