RIYADH, 20 October — Crown Prince Abdullah, deputy premier and commander of the National Guard, has called on experts and economic planners to formulate a strategy that will stimulate the Kingdom’s progress without undermining its Islamic and cultural values and national traditions. Prince Abdullah was speaking at the inauguration of a four-day international symposium on the "Future Vision for the Saudi Economy".
Malaysia’s Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, Prince Sultan, second deputy premier and minister of defense and aviation, members of the royal family, Cabinet ministers, diplomats, senior government officials, and a large gathering of invitees attended the inaugural session that has brought together both national and international experts.
The five-day symposium is organized jointly by the Ministry of Planning and the World Bank and will discuss various aspects of economic diversification, human resource development, how to improve the performance of the public sector, enlarging private sector participation in the national economy and making use of IT to speed up economic progress.
Addressing the gathering, the crown prince said the Kingdom has successfully implemented its sixth Five-Year Plan and is now into the second year of the Seventh Plan. The Kingdom, he pointed out, has been a major factor in stabilizing oil prices.
It was in this context, Prince Abdullah observed, that the Kingdom has carried out an economic reform program as part of its move to join the World Trade Organization to throw open its economy to free trade and encourage national and overseas investment. He expressed his hope that the symposium will spell out a clear vision for the Saudi economy.
Earlier, Mahathir suggested that Saudi Arabia, endowed with its wealth of oil and mineral resources, should mobilize them for the reforestation of at least a part of the desert for the benefit of its people. It could utilize its oil wealth to produce electricity, both for domestic consumption and for running desalination plants, he added.
Above all, Mahathir said, the Kingdom should accord priority to IT if it wants to make use of the modern tools of progress. He cited Malaysia’s experience in this field and explained how his country, previously caught in the straitjacket of a tin- and rubber-based economy, leapfrogged into the knowledge-based economy by placing emphasis on IT and other modern tools of learning. He said his country would be willing to share its expertise and experience in this field for the mutual benefit of both countries.
The prime minister said the history of Islam shows that there is no conflict between Islam and scientific progress. To this end, Muslim countries should emphasize the teaching of science and mathematics in the school curriculum, since Arabs were pioneers in these fields.
"But Muslims turned their back on science and math, which explains their state of backwardness today," he added.
Mahathir said the Kingdom could play a leadership role in the Islamic world by using cutting-edge technology in its march to progress. Such technological progress could be achieved without compromising on its Islamic values as the home of the two Holy Mosques.
"Holy places will remain holy places even if Saudi Arabia becomes an economic power," the prime minister said, dismissing the orthodox view that technological progress could pose a threat to Islamic values.
Speaking on the role of financial and monetary policy in the future Saudi economy, Minister of Finance and National Economy Ibrahim Al-Assaf said there was a need for a new set of guidelines to bring them in line with changing needs. Noting that the Saudi economy has largely remained an oil-based economy, he said that economic diversification was imperative to cushion the impact of the fluctuating oil prices, which had an adverse effect on the Saudi budget.
Despite the vagaries of the international oil market, Al-Assaf observed, the Kingdom has been able to maintain the stability of the Saudi riyal as well as oil prices. He stressed the need for a strategy that would boost the efficiency of public sector organizations through administrative reforms. The government in this regard would only play a supervisory role based on an action plan to be drawn up by experts at the symposium.
