DAMMAM, 18 January 2007 — The vital role the human resources have to play in achieving economic development in the Kingdom has been underscored in a two-day seminar titled “Human Resources and Change Leadership” that opened yesterday in Dammam. Addressing the opening function of the sixth human resources seminar organized jointly by the Eastern Province Chamber of Commerce and Industry (EPCCI) and Saudi Electricity Company, Governor of Eastern Province Prince Muhammad ibn Fahd, said: “Citizens are the real wealth of the country. When this idea is translated into the plane of reality, the citizens occupy the central position in all developmental projects of the Kingdom, fixing them as the goal and the means at the same time.”
Speaking on the occasion, Abdul Rahman Al-Rashid, chairman of the EPCCI and president of the Council of Saudi Chambers of Commerce and Industry, stressed that the human potentials determined to a large extent the success of the private sector in the Kingdom. “The businessmen, executives and administrators should realize the prime role played by the human resources which interact with the changes to achieve success in their establishments.”
Al-Rashid thanked the Saudi Electricity Company for cooperating for the success of the seminar.
On behalf of Ali Al-Barrak, executive president of the SEC, his deputy Saad Al-Mansour said the success of any company could be judged with its attention to the development of its manpower. “It is imperative on the part of the managers of any establishment to bring about a conducive atmosphere for the acceptance of novelty and change particularly in our age surrounded by serious challenges from all sides,” Al-Mansour said. He added that the Saudi Electricity Co. has been cooperating with the EPCCI since 1999 to hold the annual seminars.
Participating in the event, Khaled Al-Kaf, CEO and executive president of the Etihad Etisalat, expressed his company’s indebtedness to the Communications and Information Technology Commission and Saudi Telecom Co. for the success of “Mobily.”
Without their cooperation his company “could not have extended its services to 32 cities in different regions in the Kingdom in six months after its establishment.
The company has now 6 million subscribers and 2,500 workers, 82 percent of whom are Saudis, with a total investment of SR20 billion.”
Former Bahraini Education Minister Ali Fakhro warned while presenting his paper in the third sitting of the forum against the excessive dependence on the oil revenue for the economic growth in the Gulf countries. “In the economic side, we have not yet achieved a modern productive and knowledge-based economy, which would guarantee a continuous economic growth and enable us stand on our own legs even after the end of the petroleum era,” Ali Fakhro said.