From left : Dr. Mohammed Al-Jasser, Hans-Paul Burkner, Prof.Dong-Sung Cho, Deborah Wince-Smith, Philip Yeo. at the Global Competitiveness Forum 2014 in Riyadh Saudi Arabia

Mohammed Alshoaiby

Saudi Gazette





RIYADH – The 7th annual Global Competitiveness Forum (GCF) kicked off on Sunday morning to a large attendance and a diversified array of speakers, initiating the dialogue on the role of competitiveness in Saudi Arabia’s economy.



The forum, which the Saudi Arabian General Investment Authority (SAGIA) launched under the banner “Building Competitive Partnerships,” studies the Saudi economy as an economy on the verge of diversification, tackling many relevant obstacles and opportunities with a focus on competitiveness as a force of development and sustainability.



“This year the forum will focus on ‘Building Competitive Partnerships,” particularly strategic alliances that create sustainable economic value and growth beyond that which could be achieved by individual companies or government agencies,” said Eng. Abdullatif Al-Othman, Governor of SAGIA and Chairman of the Board.



The forum’s premiere talk featured Dr. Mohammed Al-Jasser, Minister of Economy and Planning; Hans-Paul Burkner, Chairman of the Boston Consulting Group; Philip Yeo, Chairman of Standards Productivity and Innovation for Growth (SPRING), Deborah Wince-Smith, President and Chief Executive of the Council on Competitiveness, and Prof. Dong-Sung Cho, Professor at Seoul National University and Member of the Presidential Council for National Competitiveness of Korea.



The speakers addressed the importance of education in diversifying the Kingdom’s economy, a key factor with a majority demographic under the age of 30 who are rolling into the job market.



Burkner touched on the importance of education in changing behaviors and attitudes towards entering the job market: “If young people don’t have a chance to engage, this will cause unrest.”



This trend of demographics permeated the talk, as Minister Al-Jasser revealed statistics from the Ministry of Health that suggest that the life expectancy in the Kingdom has grown to 75 years, which suggests a continuing growth in the youth demographic.



Al-Jasser said a diversified economy will create more jobs, as the revenues of non-oil exports have grown from 32-billion in 2001 to 200-billion in 2013.



Statistics such as the ones revealed by Al-Jasser come in lieu of the global economic perspective on governments and large corporation in regards to their transparency.



“We currently have access to more information, but will it lead to less trust and more friction?



“There is hope that transparency will lead to changing behaviors,” said Burkner.



Saudi Arabia currently ranks high on molding successful politicians and bureaucrats, as Cho revealed in a presentation on a comprehensive study of the Saudi marketplace, but ranked lower on workers and professionals.



The Kingdom’s Knowledge-Economy goals are in place to alleviate the Saudi marketplace of complicated bureaucracy and regulation, while ensuring that millions of Saudis develop the necessary skills to lead a diversified economy in a rapidly changing investment environment via the King Abdullah Scholarship Program abroad, along with various universities, institutes, and vocational training facilities Kingdomwide.



GCF will continue through in its seventh incarnation until 6 p.m. Monday, and with its history of attracting key players from within the Kingdom and abroad, the forum hopes to spark the necessary dialogue in improving the investment climate and developing the Kingdom into a major competitor in the global economic market.