RIYADH, 3 August 2004 — In an effort to perpetuate the memory of the late Prince Ahmed ibn Salman, son of Riyadh Governor Prince Salman and former chairman of the Saudi Research & Marketing Group, the Kentucky World Trade Center (KWTC) seeks to introduce a novel program to boost Saudi-US relations through trade and education cum on-the-job training exchange.
This was disclosed to Arab News by Ahmed Al-Ibrahim, one of the promoters of the scheme, who is mobilizing support for the project along with Dr. Edward F. Brown, a member of the board of directors of KWTC. A draft of the proposal has been submitted to Dr. Nail Al-Jubair, consultant at the Royal Saudi Embassy in Washington.
The scheme, known as Ambassador Program, will be up and running on May 5 next year, the day when Prince Ahmed’s colt, “War Emblem”, made racing history by winning the Kentucky Derby. Saudi Ambassador to the US Prince Bandar ibn Sultan will inaugurate the program, with funds coming from both Saudi and American businessmen.
Al-Ibrahim, now in Riyadh on a private visit, said the late Prince Ahmed had endeared himself to the people of Kentucky, where he was a regular visitor and a participant in the horse race. Kentucky, as the venue of the horse racing, is keen on perpetuating the memory of Prince Ahmed who was a shining symbol of Saudi-American relations.
At another level, Prince Faisal ibn Fahd ibn Abdullah has launched the Saudi-American Exchange Program to bring in American students who qualify for the program. “The idea is to let them discover the Kingdom and broaden their understanding. However, two things are off-limits for discussion — politics and religion. The program has had a favorable response, with the Boston Globe and the Washington Post giving it a good coverage. The program has helped in creating a better understanding of the Kingdom and its culture,” Al-Ibrahim said.
He pointed out that he has been working closely with the Saudi Embassy in Washington in promoting the scheme. The Ambassador Program, he said, will enable business professionals and non-profit staff members to exchange ideas, study, teach and conduct research in the US and other countries in the Middle East.
Asked about the anti-Saudi campaign in the US media, Al-Ibrahim said Adel and Nail Al-Jubair have been doing a good job in networking with the Congress. They have also been organizing seminars in American universities to clarify misconceptions about Saudi Arabia. Such events have gone down well with the American audience.
Referring to the Saudi-American Exchange Program, he said it has worked effectively. Asked how they are going to change the public perception of the Arabs when the US media is working full time against the Arab world, Al-Ibrahim said they are not counting on the media as their communication tool. “If we are going to fight them through their media, it is a lost case.”
The only way to counter this challenge is through trade. Programs like Prince Ahmed ibn Salman Ambassador Program could go a long way in promoting better relations between the two countries. “When the senators give their views about a certain country, they definitely look at their balance sheet. The senator of Ohio would never talk in a negative way about Saudi Arabia. The reason simply is that of the total US imports of $4.59 billion from the Kingdom last year, Ohio has the biggest share. The state has the biggest factory for GM, which has a substantial market share in the Saudi automobile sector.”
So trade is a major component of the program for promoting bilateral relations besides the friendship exchange program. “There are a few senators who speak ill of Saudi Arabia, but there are 17,000 students at MIT who could be influenced positively about the Kingdom,” he observed.
Asked how Saudi Arabia has benefited from its trade with the US, which opposes Saudi membership of the WTO and insists on the Kingdom lifting the boycott against Israel, Al-Ibrahim said the Kingdom has been engaged in quiet diplomacy. “Prince Bandar ibn Sultan has got excellent relations with President George W. Bush and other senior government officials. He is doing a lot of PR work for his country. He has got his own communication channels with the Congress.”
One way of countering the hostile attitude against the Kingdom, according to Al-Ibrahim, is to commit companies benefiting from Saudi Arabia to an action plan that seeks to build up Saudi image back in the US. “For example, Exxon/Mobil is engaged in a lot of charitable works in the US. We would like to know what Exxon is doing in promoting Saudi-US relations. Can it put on some commercials on TV concerning Saudi Arabia? Can it fight those people in the Congress? Exxon/Mobil has a huge lobby working for it in the Congress. Can it mobilize part of its huge resources in terms of a PR campaign for Saudi Arabia?”
He suggested that there should be a stipulation in the contract that the American company will undertake to spend part of the contract money on doing PR work for Saudi Arabia through the US media. The US government, he pointed out, cannot ignore the fact that Saudi funds in the US estimated at $1.2 trillion constitute seven percent of its economy.
The Kingdom, he said, does not indulge in arm-twisting. But the amount of Saudi money in the US gives an idea of the potential economic clout that it provides to the Saudi government. These resources underline the importance of the Kingdom as a significant factor in the American economy.
“I don’t think the Americans would like to leave Saudi Arabia, which is one of the biggest markets for the US, no matter what the hostile forces may do to sabotage these relations. Already, American universities are feeling the pinch of the visa restrictions that have sharply reduced their intake of students from the Gulf states,” he added.
