RIYADH, 22 December 2006 — The Kingdom will spend over SR32 billion ($8.6 billion) on research and development as part of its 20-year National Science and Technology Plan.
This was disclosed to Arab News by Saleh Al-Athel, president of King Abdul Aziz City for Science and Technology (KACST), who said that the allocation represents 2.5 percent of the Kingdom’s GDP of SR1.3 trillion ($347 billion), up from 0.25-0.50 percent at present.
Al-Athel was speaking on the sidelines of a seminar titled “Investment Horizons” that concluded here late Wednesday night. The theme of the KACST president’s speech was investment opportunities in the R&D sector.
Al-Athel said the government would install in the near future the so-called “technology incubators” at five Saudi universities as part of its program to promote applied research in the Kingdom. Buildings for the project, costing SR15 million each, will be established at King Saud University (Riyadh), King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals (Dhahran), King Faisal University (Dammam), King Abdul Aziz University (Jeddah) and King Khaled University (Abha).
These incubators will be acquired as part of KACST’s National Science and Technology Plan to promote scientific research in the Kingdom with the collaboration of the private sector. The research project, in its initial stage, will be conducted at the academic level by researchers, for which funding will come from the private sector.
Al-Athel said: “When we talk about R&D spending, we should not confine ourselves only to KACST but rather to the Kingdom as a whole. Major organizations like Saudi Aramco, SABIC, universities and the private sector have already stepped up their spending on R&D.”
This was in addition to the IT cities that are being set up in different parts of the Kingdom by the Saudi Organization for Industrial Estates and Technology Zones (SOIETZ). They will also contribute their share to R&D, he added. Asked about the GCC summit’s decision to utilize nuclear energy for peaceful purposes, the KACST president said their researchers were already engaged in developing this technology for civilian use. He explained how nuclear energy could play an important role in providing a protective umbrella against ultraviolet radiation as part of its cooperation plan with the Presidency of Meteorology and Environment.
“We also cooperate with the customs (for the detection of any equipment exposed to radiation) and the Ministry of Interior to ensure that companies contracted by it do not leave any hazardous waste that could damage the environment. KACST, he pointed out, has already signed an agreement with the International Atomic Energy Agency for the exploitation of atomic energy for peaceful purposes. “We are also committed to the nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty,” he said.
Elaborating, Al-Athel explained that unlike other countries that rely on the nuclear energy (since they have no other option), the Kingdom has abundant oil resources, besides the desalination technology for producing water and electricity from seawater. As such, it does not face any compelling circumstances to opt for nuclear energy as a strategic choice.
