RIYADH, 11 March 2008 — A senior Saudi official has called for setting out a new vision to help the booming economy to sustain itself by encouraging venture capital and by funding scientific and research institutions in the Kingdom.
Dr. Mohammed Al-Suwaiyel, president of King Abdul Aziz City for Science & Technology (KACST), said that the role of venture capital in “funding entrepreneurship and bringing to market new dynamic companies is important for any economy.” Suwaiyel was speaking during the inaugural ceremony of a two-day “Gulf Venture Capital Association (GVCA) forum 2008” here yesterday. The event has been organized under the patronage of Prince Abdulaziz ibn Abdullah, GVCA chairman. The opening session was also attended by Ford M. Fraker, US ambassador; Bill Glynn, chairman and co-founder of Collective IQ; and Ismail Fariz Ali, executive director of Khazanah Nasional Berhad, the investment arm of the Malaysian government.
The forum, which is the largest gathering of private equity and venture capital decision makers and entrepreneurship professionals in the GCC market, has been organized by the Centennial Fund in cooperation with the GVCA. Speaking on this occasion, Suwaiyel said, “A small amount of money invested in scientific and research institutions can boost the work profile of the institutions and eventually benefit the country’s economy.” He said that this event on venture capital would acquaint the professional organizations with new ideas as how to develop this vital financial sector.
Referring to the US model in the field of venture capital, Ford M. Fraker, US ambassador, called for encouraging promotion of venture capital in Saudi Arabia. He said, “The American model, in this context, will have a lot of application in the Kingdom as the US has been successful in developing the venture capital industry.”
He applauded the role of Centennial Fund, which is starting to develop venture capital in the Kingdom. “Moreover, it will be interesting to see how structural initiatives can be taken to develop the industry as a whole in this country,” said Fraker. He said, “There is a terrific potential in the Kingdom — the economy is booming and venture capital can be a critical part of sustaining that boom.” He added, “In fact, venture capital fueled the engine of economic growth in the US and same can be applied here.”
The forum also featured question and answer sessions. The sessions today will be addressed by Dr. Abdulrahman Al-Jaafry, governor of Communication and Information Technology Commission; Dr. Majed Al-Kassabi director of Prince Sultan Charitable Foundation and Dr. Kamal Maamria, managing director of Boston Consulting Group.