JEDDAH: A number of speakers from across the Middle East spoke recently about the global financial crisis and how it is affecting the Gulf countries at a seminar entitled “The Impact of the World’s Economic Crisis on GCC Countries.”
Speaking at the event, Mghawry Shalabi, an economic analyst at the Council of Saudi Chambers, encouraged customers to buy real estate. “This is the best time to start buying and constructing real estate properties as the prices are getting lower,” he said. He added that selling property is not profitable. Shalabi said the price of commodities have decreased in the world market but not in Saudi Arabia. He attributed this to the existence of exclusive agents here and called for more space for competition.
Abdul Rahman Al-Salman from the Kuwait Economic Society spoke about the measures that Kuwait has taken to deal with the crisis. Kuwait has so far lost $62 million in the crisis. He added that the establishment of a National Economic Crisis Fund would help in a financial crisis.
Experts also spoke about the problem of unemployment caused by the crisis, which started in America and Europe, and is expected to spread to the Gulf.
Wadi Kabli, a staff member of the Economy Department of King Abdul Aziz University, said 250,000 jobs are being lost each month in the US with the number expected to reach 800,000.
Experts also warned companies against using the financial crisis as an excuse to fire employees.
Abdul Aziz Al-Owaishiq, director of the GCC Economic Integration Department, emphasized the role that the GCC monitoring bodies play in overseeing banking systems. He also stressed the need to work on retrieving the accountability and trust in GCC markets.
Al-Owaishiq further stressed the need for collaboration between GCC financial systems and the adoption of unified GCC laws and procedures to encourage intra-investments between GCC countries. He said this was because foreign investments are expected to witness a decline due to the crisis.
The event was organized by the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Council of Saudi Chambers and the Federation of Chambers of the Gulf Cooperation Council.