RIYADH, 23 January 2008 — Mohamed Ali Alabbar, director general of the Department of Economic Development and Chairman of Emaar Properties PJSC, urged the Arab world to “create citizens for jobs rather than create jobs for citizens” by nurturing ambition, optimism and self-belief in young Arabs.
He was addressing a panel discussion on the “Global Talent of the Future” at the Global Competitiveness Forum (GCF) in Riyadh. The forum was held under the patronage of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah and organized by the Saudi Arabian General Investment Authority. Alabbar said that unless the Arab nations make a concerted and sustained effort to develop their human capital the region would be a bystander to the global economy.
The Middle East as a whole, he pointed out, has one of the fastest growing and youngest populations in the world, with around 65 percent of the population under the age of 25. “If we can nurture this enormous resource we will enter into an era of peace and prosperity; if we cannot, we face a future of dissatisfaction, unrest and economic decline,” he said.
Alabbar said that the key to progress in the region is the participation of Arab youth. “We have large reserves of young talent in the region, a pent-up spirit of creativity and productivity. The extent to which we can tap into our most precious resource will determine our future success.”
Alabbar, part of a five-member panel, added that recent advancements in GCC economies have not always been matched by innovations in education, training and job creation. “This,” he said, “has led to a situation where a great opportunity is beginning to look like an impending crisis.” “In today’s information-driven global economy, a company’s biggest assets no longer consist of buildings, machines or even financial reserves,” he said. “Today, brainpower is every business’s most important asset, human capital its most vital investment.”
Governments, Alabbar said, must first make investments in schools, universities and research facilities, while also creating the economic conditions for entrepreneurship to flourish. “Small and medium-size enterprises are breeding grounds for grass-roots talent, the leadership of tomorrow,” he said. Improvements in education and training, meanwhile, must be matched with societal changes. “We must encourage shifts in attitudes,” Alabbar said, “a spirit of dynamism and enthusiasm.”
