RIYADH — Al Yamamah University held its conference on economy entitled "Diversifying Saudi Economy in Light of Vision 2030" in its headquarters in Riyadh on March 1. The conference included many presentations, panel discussions and research in this regard. Prof. Hussam Ramadan, head of the organizing committee, told the Saudi Gazette "this is the first economic forum to be organized by the university, (and) we chose this title as a contribution from the university to the national economic rapidly positive changes to serve as a scholarly event that discusses and brainstorms with prominent researchers, local and international figures specialized in economy business about the national concern of diversifying economy of the Kingdom to go in line with Kingdom's vision 2030 and the impact of Saudi economic policy locally and internationally. We chose six areas of discussions to be the main topics of the forum to serve that purpose: impact of fluctuating oil prices on Saudi economy policy, role of Sovereign Funds in diversifying income sources, impact of economic openness on diversifying production base in Saudi economy and creating new jobs opportunities, role of the telecommunication and information technology sector in boosting knowledge and digital economy in the Kingdom, small and medium enterprises and their role in economic diversification in the Kingdom, and tourism sector and its role in supporting the diversification of Saudi economy. Many research was showcased in this regard and panel discussions as well." Speaking of the importance of inviting professors from IV League schools in the world to participate in this conference, he said: "Like I have said, this is an academic scholarly event that aims at studying in depth the economic challenges and issues facing the Kingdom from an academic perspectives. That is the reason why we chose our speakers and our researchers who present their research papers under these topics at the end of the conference. We chose them from different perspectives, and diverse schools of thoughts to enrich the discussion and to bring different opinions from several countries in the world. At the end of the conference, we aim at coming up with more concrete ad more actual and beneficial conclusions. We also want to bring solid recommendations, so everyone can benefit. We hope that our conclusions and solid research findings can benefit both the academic sector and the executive sector as well regarding the new economic policy in the Kingdom." Eng. Essam Al-Zamil, Founder and CEO of Ramal Information Technology Company and an economic writer at The Monitor Magazine, USA, said in a session entitled "The impact of low-paid foreign workers on Saudi economy" that "the main points of my presentation was the impact of low- paid foreign workers in Saudi economy over the last 40 years. Most of the time people would focus on the impact of foreign labor on unemployment. While the negative impact goes beyond the unemployment. It impacts the productivity of people. We did not give the locals the opportunity to participate in the growth process. It negatively affects their ability to develop their skills. Having good education and going to good universities would not really improve the economy if these were not aligned with participation in the productivity process. Because most of what we learnt, we learn it by doing it and experiencing it not by explicit theoretical teachings. Second point is on the impact of entrepreneurship on labor market and economy. Youth cannot graduate from universities and say I will be an entrepreneur. It is 10 times harder than having a regular job and it has certain personality characteristics and even if you have it, you need some working experience. 70% of the entrepreneurs who are working in the US have working experience of at least six years. However, in Saudi Arabia we look at it as a way to avoid unemployment. And this is absolutely wrong. If you cannot get a job, you most probably will not succeed in creating your own business. It is 10 times harder than working in a regular job. Entrepreneurs must be highly trained with good understanding of the field they work in and they must have working experience in order to increase their productivity. Last point is the productivity of the private sector. In general, it has been improving extremely slow because there is no incentives to acquire productive machinery that would increase automation, because if there is access to low-paid foreign workers, there will be no strong reason in investing in automation. So that makes all of our productivity always in the low level. These points have severe negative impact on the labor market and in the economy." Prof. Dr. Eric Spangenberg, Dean of the College of Business Administration at University of California, said his entitled "Disruption is Here: Encountering the Digital Tsunami while Pursuing Vision 2030" highlights the enormous wave of digital transformation or digital disruption in business in business, as a company, a country, or individuals. And that we need to embrace this reality and we need to take advantage of this a s an opportunity. It is as we call it the digital revolution, for young generation it is not a revolution it is just reality. While for those of us who are in charge of making changes, strategic decisions need to – as digital immigrants to this new world- that we need to embrace that reality and change our perspectives. I think Saudi Arabia is willing to adapt positive changes to economically prosper and that includes the use of technology. I think that Saudi Arabia wants to be market maker and game changer, not a market taker." About the future, he said: "One of the points I made on stage is that it is very hard to predict the future. I doubt if I can make a prediction, but I do believe that Saudi Arabia, with its current leadership... there is a real possibility for positive changes, but it has to be intentional decisions and this is how nations move forward. Saudis are willing and excited for changes and that is a very positive sign."
