RIYADH, 22 January 2008 — The future of any country is determined by five major pillars: education, the infrastructure, usage of inventions for economic benefit, its government, and the cooperation between individuals, said John Chambers, chairman and CEO of Cisco Systems.
In the first session of the 2nd Global Competitiveness Forum (GCF) under the title “Competitiveness as an Engine for Economic Growth”, Chambers highlighted the importance of developing small- and medium-enterprises (SMEs) due to their capability of competing on a local and international level.
“By developing small- and medium-enterprises, societies can develop the middle class which has an effective role in sustaining the development of national economy,” he said. Professor Stephane Garelli, director, IMD World Competitiveness Yearbook, said the world has now entered the second phase of globalization which has become a small village.
He pointed out that the most important aspect in sustaining global competitiveness in any country is the improvement of its education system, saying that education is the force which drives people to change.
Garelli echoed the importance of the middle class in any society, noting that the middle class in any country played the most important role in guaranteeing economic and political stability of any nation.
Three Saudi ministers later addressed the assembly in the session entitled “Kingdom of Saudi Arabia: What’s Next?” to highlight Saudi Arabia’s seriousness in applying competitiveness in trade and telecommunication sectors.
Minister of Communications and Information Technology Mohammed Jamil Mulla said fruits of competitiveness in the Saudi market allowed astute businessmen to take advantage of opportunities for growth in the local market.
He also stressed the importance of “fair and transparent” competition in which observance of regulations and laws would attract local and foreign investment. Mulla cited competition in the Saudi telecommunication market as an example of creating better services, reduced prices and a variety of consumer products to choose from.
“Since competitiveness started in the local market in 2005 in the mobile sector, this has caused the improvement of services, reduction of prices, the increase of subscribers, and the growth of revenue in the sector,” he said. The minister said that several local and international companies have offered proposals worth SR40 billion to win licenses for GSM services.
Competitiveness in the information technology sector has also had positive effects in attracting more liquidity to the market, he said. As a result, Internet users in the Kingdom by the end of 2007 were estimated at 5 million, where 22 percent of the Kingdom’s population are Internet users.
Minister of Economy & Planning Khaled Al-Gosaibi said competitiveness is a means and not a goal. The prosperity of individual wellbeing is what competitiveness aims for, he said. He said the government of Saudi Arabia has a 20-year strategic development goal to improve the living conditions.
“By 2025 we will increase the per capita income of citizens in addition to increasing the total GDP,” he said, adding that at the current stage the Kingdom is focused on the quality of development. Minister of Trade & Commerce Hashim Yamani said the Kingdom had benefited from its openness to global markets. “Saudi Arabia has taken a firm decision. The main engine of which were ideas from SAGIA,” he said.