RIYADH, 23 September — The Council of Saudi Chambers of Commerce and Industry will hold next week a meeting of its executive council to evolve a strategy to boost its efficiency, streamline services and augment revenues.
“We want to add a new vision to the council’s style of functioning,” Abdulrahman Al-Jeraisy, the newly elected president of CSCCI, told Arab News. He was speaking on the occasion of an exhibition of new products either manufactured or distributed by Riyadh House Est. The exhibition, being held at the Faisaliah Hotel (Prince Sultan ibn Abdul Aziz Grand Hall), will remain open to the public from 9 am to 1 pm and from 4.30 pm to 10.30 pm till Tuesday. Thirty international companies from 14 countries are participating in the exhibition which features the state-of-the-art in communications and information technology as well as furniture and color printing facilities.
Referring to the council’s new composition, he said that with the induction of Dr. Fahd Al-Sultan as its secretary- general the chambers’ apex body would be able to draw upon his experience as the assistant deputy minister of municipal and rural affairs and as an academician.
“Our colleagues in the Council of Saudi Chambers will also be pooling their resources to see what needs to be done to help the council surmount the challenges ahead. Moreover, we want to maintain very good relations with our government in the interest of the business community. So this also will be one of our priority areas,” Al-Jeraisy observed.
He said a new strategy would emerge from the deliberations of the executive council. Asked if the council had any plans to publish an English-language magazine for reaching out to a larger audience, Al-Jeraisy said he would not rule out the possibility if such an idea crystallized at the meeting.
Al-Jeraisy, who is also the president of Riyadh House Est., said the exhibition reflects the strong interaction between Saudi Arabia and the industrialized countries. This has resulted in the transfer of technology to the Kingdom. In this context, he said Riyadh House Est. was the first to introduce office automation in the Kingdom and also the first to manufacture and export smart cards to the GCC states, the Middle East, India and Turkey. As many as 50 banks in the Gulf region are using the smart cards.
“We are now negotiating for the export of these cards to Europe,” he said. Elaborating on his remarks, Riad Siblini, marketing director of Riyadh House Est., said they have already started producing smart cards for specific customers, including the Saudi Telecom Company.
