Taking risks, boosting privatization and ending bureaucratic delays are the three main steps that should be taken within the coming two decades, says Abdullah bin Jebreen, CEO of ABANA. With ABANA involved in providing solutions to financial, telecom and other critical sectors in the Kingdom, including Saudi Post and Saudi Airlines, Bin Jebreen called for the importance of developing a technological system that facilitates all financial and banking processes through the Internet and mobile. Expressing his concern over the unstable political changes in neighboring countries, he told Diana Al-Jassem of Arab News in an interview: “Such unstable political situations may affect the Saudi economy negatively.”
Rapid change
What, in your opinion, are changes that would have major impact on the lives of Saudi nationals within the coming twenty years?
Major changes are required in research investment and the improving the quality of education. There is not enough funding for research and the output of the education system is poor and does not create suitable candidates for the job market. Take a look at South Korea and how enhanced education affected people’s lives. We have to develop our manpower capabilities in order to compete globally. We should not depend only upon our natural resources. We should also depend upon our human resources. When we look at our history, we discover that our grandfathers worked hard to drive the Saudi economy successfully. Saudi nationals work hard and are willing to learn and grow. We want to see Saudis working in skilled and technical jobs that the national economy needs.
Role of leadership
What do you think of the leadership roles regarding organizations in the Kingdom? What are the factors/reasons for their current state?
Leadership systems in Saudi organizations are of two types. The first type exists in semi-governmental organizations. They have good leaders, but these organizations follow outdated systems. The other type is found in private sector and public sector organizations, which have been run by the same families for many years. The economy is growing quickly, but managers of organizations continue to be conservative and don’t make decisions quickly enough.
Challenging tasks
What are the most difficult decisions that need to be applied in the Kingdom within the next twenty years?
The Kingdom should speed up the privatization of some critical organizations that are service-based, such as Saudi Arabian Airlines and Saudi Post Office. The processes for payments made by the government sector need to be streamlined and effectively monitored. Project management also has some constraints because of bureaucratic delays. The government should make rules flexible and find an easy way to support projects.
Sustainable development
What goals would you set for the Kingdom’s development and how do you think these goals can be achieved?
There are many goals, but the ones most often discussed are:
• To reduce dependency upon revenues from exporting natural resources and supplement them with downstream industry.
• To improve the quality of education to fulfill job market requirements.
• To increase the investment in research and development in all sectors to a level on par with nations like South Korea in comparison with our gross national product.
• To fund the creative ideas of young men and women and protect their copyrights and patents.
• To change government procurement systems to allow selection of the best offers over the lowest offers.
Creative project
Give us an example of the most creative project that you wish to establish in the Kingdom.
There are many creative ideas, but some regulations impede the implementation of those ideas. For example, I would like to see the concept of “virtual banks” become a reality. In such a bank, customers would not have to visit an actual branch for account services and transactions. Transactions would instead be completed using mobile phones, computers, ATMs and other remote transaction channels. Such a project would benefit both women and ‘unbanked’ people. Electronic banking costs are low, and would allow customers who maintain low balances and use a limited scope of transactions to take care of their banking needs simply and remotely. Examples of such transactions include labor salary transitions and the receipt of social funds such as pensions and unemployment remittances. The implementation of this idea could be difficult because of the regulations, but could greatly benefit a sizeable segment of the population.
KSA in three words
What three words would you use to describe the Kingdom in the next 20 years, and why do you choose these three words?
This is the country of safety, stability and wealth. In the past, Saudi Arabia has followed a consistent foreign policy. Also, Saudi’s leaders care about people’s benefits. Saudi Arabia, in comparison with many other countries, has reinvested its money in its people and its infrastructure. What we are seeing today is a lot of investment in infrastructure and education that will have a positive impact on our generation in the next 20 years.
Regarding Saudi officials, what characteristics do you think are important for such individuals? How would such characteristics contribute toward the Kingdom’s future development?
The Kingdom’s officials should be flexible enough to adopt new technology. In addition, they should manage and plan more effectively. They spend too much time controlling and monitoring strategies. Unfortunately, many supervisors with good management skills are not able to perform optimally because of bureaucracy. They should be encouraged to think out of the box. I am looking forward to seeing our youth in leading positions in organizations where they can take risks to introduce changes.
Human rights
How can we all improve human rights in Saudi Arabia? What are your expectations regarding human right practices in the coming twenty years?
We shouldn’t have problems with human rights, because our religion ensures the rights of every human being. What we have in the Kingdom are some bad practices by some individuals. Therefore, I don’t think we are lagging behind in human rights.
Biggest challenge
What is the biggest challenge facing the Kingdom today?
The unstable political situation in neighboring countries will affect the economies in Yemen, Syria, Iraq and Bahrain. We can’t ensure Saudi economic stability while neighboring countries are not secure. I also think that the quality of education and employing women are main challenges that we have to deal with. Unfortunately, it is becoming an issue to find job opportunities for women in Saudi Arabia.
Prominent activity
What are the most prominent economic activities in the Kingdom? What are the ‘neglected’ sectors that need to be developed?
Oil and gas production has been the most active sector for many years. Neglected sectors include medical services. In terms of technology, we used to be among the top nations in the use of up-to-date banking technology, but during the past seven years, we have lagged behind. The reason for this lag is a combination of infrastructure limitations, and outdated regulations. I believe that both issues could be solved by privatization.
Housing growth
There is a huge demand for housing in the Kingdom because of rising young population. The government has also put an emphasis on this sector by allocating SR250 billion in the budget for housing. Do you believe housing sector needs much attention from the government and private sector?
The budgeted allocation is enough if we know how to manage it. The bureaucracy and regulations really contribute to being wasteful. On the other hand, we must have mortgage regulations and companies that facilitate home ownership like those that exist in other countries. We should make more facilities for people, so that they can offer land and houses. Land prices are also too high because the government keeps focusing on investment in the major urban areas. This prompts citizens to migrate to cities for jobs, which in turn increase the land prices. The Kingdom has to invest in far-flung areas and villages. This can reduce the concentration of population in major cities.
Role of SMEs
There is a need to boost small business enterprises (SMEs) sector in the Kingdom as it creates various jobs. What role do you see for SMEs in the Kingdom’s economic development?
We should standardize and regulate the SMEs. This can be done easily when we stop unqualified expatriates from working in SMEs. All in all, I believe that if Saudis own their own businesses, they can compete very favorably with businesses owned by unqualified expatriates. Therefore, we must increase the quality and not simply the quantity of SMEs, and make it easier for SMEs to borrow money to fund startup businesses or creative ideas.
Knowledge hunt
Education is always a top priority of the Saudi government. What changes do you envisage in the education system befitting Saudi youth in knowledge-based economy?
I am looking forward to seeing the effect King Abdullah’s program for international scholarships has upon the quality of education and returning students’ success in the job market. These results can then be compared with the outcomes of students who graduate locally and used to improve the quality of our national technical schools and universities.
Fair opportunities
How do you see Saudi women’s contribution in the labor sector and social and political arenas in the next 20 years?
Saudi women’s contribution to the political arena is relatively new. I think we should implement it gradually. If we compare women in our society, which is regulated by religion, to women in Europe, we will find that the presence of European women is still low in the political field. We should not try to merely copy and adopt other models of government to our culture. And a woman should not work if she doesn’t need to. She should follow her priorities.
What are Saudi women required to do in pursuance of their future?
Women should care about their own lives and families first because they shape our upcoming generations. We need to secure women’s economic, financial and social rights. Women’s contributions to the labor market will be greater if they are directed toward the sectors where they are most needed, such as in the medical field. Also, the social arena is the one area in which men can’t compete with women; women will always have more opportunities here.
Saudi media
What measures and standards are yet to be (and must be) introduced to Saudi media, and what are your expectations or the next twenty years?
Media should ensure that the information they are publishing is accurate, and should be responsible for the information they broadcast or publish. Looking for truth rather than income and profits should be the top goal of media organizations. Unfortunately, today we can’t be sure of what we see or read in the media. People have to learn to differentiate between good and bad media products. We should teach our children how to think and rethink about the information they receive.
What impact will social media have regarding change in the Kingdom?
The social media will have a positive impact regarding changes in the Kingdom, for disseminating news, health awareness information, safety and security. The newest trends in personal well-being, entertainment and sports results can all be followed up- to-the-minute because of social media.
Learning from the past
What are three or four mistakes that have been repeated in the Kingdom during the past 10 decades and how could we eliminate them in order to develop the Kingdom?
In the Kingdom, we have five-year plans, but we don’t really know where we are going and what our strategies are to implement these plans. The Ministry of Planning did not fulfill its role in managing major government development projects with other Ministries; this situation must be addressed. And the Ministry of Finance’s control in deciding the budgets of other governmental sectors has been a huge obstacle for the past fifty years. Subsidies are also less effective in raising people’s standard of living and cost the Kingdom billions of dollars. The entire regulatory system needs to be reviewed and overhauled.
Message to youth
Given that the youth make up the majority of the Saudi population, what message would you want conveyed to them? What else would you say to the rest of the population?
My message to youth is to set goals in their lives. If they don’t have goals, they will waste time because they will not know where to go. Youth should set goals, prioritize them and then start working toward them. We have a very smart generation that has all needed facilities. I would ask older people to depend upon their actual knowledge, not upon what they see in the media. They should use Google to search for any fatwa or other information they might hear. They can find accurate information and references from many sources.
