Turley was speaking to Arab News Monday on the sidelines of the 5th Global Competitiveness Forum in Riyadh

“Also, the success is due to the role played by the public and the private sector through stimulus packages and diversification offered by the Kingdom,” he added.

“Saudi Arabia plays an important role in the G20 as the sole representative of the Arab world. Saudi Arabia is taking an increasingly important role on the world stage,” he said, adding that there is no doubt oil is the main driver of not only the Saudi economy but also of other Gulf economies.

However, he added, it’s clear that efforts are underway to boost the nonoil economy through government support of entrepreneurship, small- and medium-sized enterprises and nonoil industries, and also through investment in health care and education.

“To me, supporting entrepreneurs is the key piece because they create new products and even new markets, and in doing so drive economic growth and job creation and help create stable, vibrant economies.

He said the Kingdom has potentially a real demographic advantage when it comes to innovation. Some of the world’s best creations have come from young entrepreneurs and, today, more than half of Saudi’s population is under 25. So when you combine this with the positive impacts of the government’s investments in education, in infrastructure, and its measures to attract FDI there could be a real advantage here to march forward for the successful implementation of the SR580 million budget.

Asked whether the economic crisis caused in part by some financial firms doing misleading things that were within the rules, he replied: “No, I think the economic crisis was largely caused by poor business decisions and poor risk management. One of the key lessons is that all companies need to think about risk in new and different ways. It’s fundamental to their successful operation and should not be viewed simply as a compliance exercise. The board has to own risk, and risk management must be fully integrated with corporate strategy and existing internal controls.”

Discussing the auditor’s responsibility to make the dealings of firms more transparent, Turley said the auditors have a proactive responsibility to make sure that they comply with auditing standards and that the clients they serve are complying with the requisite accounting standards. So the first and most important responsibility is to act diligently and professionally in compliance with standards and have the clients do the same.

Explaining the reasons for his participation in the GCF, Turley said: “I have been on a panel at the GCF for the past two years now and each time I’ve been impressed by its topicality and the breadth of topics covered. SAGIA has done a great job in creating a flagship event for the Middle East and North Africa. The issue of competitiveness and innovation is more important now post-crisis than it’s ever been. It’s a great forum for us to get insights into current issues and build deeper relationships with the Saudi and regional business community. Over the past decade we’ve seen some shifts that have transformed the global marketplace — the rise of the emerging markets, the Internet and of course, related to both, globalization. For me, globalization has increased competitive pressures by magnifying both opportunity and risk. Innovation is crucial to competing for growth in a tough and constantly changing global market. My view is that, in the long run, entrepreneurship and innovation will do far more to sustain job growth and fuel economic recovery than government stimulus — and I think that’s true in both developed and emerging markets.”