JEF in the Media

HRH Prince Khalid Al-Faisal Al-Saud, Governor of the Mekkah Province, opened the 10th Session of the Jeddah Economic Forum on Saturday by praising the spirit of Jeddah, its people and the efforts made to make the forum a reality.

In following and as part of the opening statements, H.E. Abdullah Ahmad Zainal Alireza, Minister of Commerce and Industry, stated the international economic and social situation were indeed difficult and that the past year had shown that nobody could escape the consequences of the financial crisis. While the kingdom is not excluded, Saudi Arabia has at its disposal a series of economic and development plans that has allowed the kingdom to avoid some of the repercussions of the financial crisis. In addition to offering economic incentives, the Minister in particular paid attention to the tremendous efforts being made in the field of education as the one key field that can propel society forward and channel society to creating knowledge-based industries.

Mr. Abdulaziz Sager, Chairman of the Gulf Research Center, highlighted the fact that the forum aims to address key international issues that are deemed critical in order to arrive at a better understanding of how to restore the confidence in the international economy. The Forum thus comes at an important time although he also stressed that it was important to take a wide and long-term view that would include such issues as science & technology, education, health, agriculture as well as energy and the environment.

H.H. Sheikh Saleh Kamel, Chairman of the Board of the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry (JCCI), stressed the global nature of the Jeddah Economic Forum and the need to hear an international perspective to better grasp the impact and wide-ranging nature of the global economic crisis. He mentioned specifically the importance of focusing on the social impact in order to devise ways out of the current dilemma.

Speaking on behalf of Dr. Hamadoun Toure, Secretary-General of the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), Mr. Luis Fernandez, mentioned that the financial crisis did not stop the need for modern communication but even led to a higher demand for connectivity and technology. Investments in this field are thus essential if there is to be restoration of sustainable GDP growth, broad-based development or an effective strategy to meet the challenges in the fields of government services, energy security, educational opportunities and health care challenges. The next decade thus must be the decade of broadband networks.

H.E. Dr. Kanoyo Nwanze, President of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), focused his remarks on the issue of food security as an integral component to build a healthy economy. The year 2008 made clear how crucial the link between food and global security is when high food prices led to riots in more than 40 countries. With continued population growth and increased resource scarcity for example in the field of water, a concerted and coordinated international effort to improve agricultural production and productivity is essential. Dr. Nwanze stressed that action taken today will make a difference tomorrow.

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