JEDDAH — Arab youth consider Saudi Arabia as their country's biggest ally for the fourth year running, highlighting their continued trust in the role the Kingdom today plays in the region's larger socio-political narrative. This is a key finding of the 7th Annual ASDA'A Burson-Marsteller Arab Youth Survey, which was released Tuesday. One in three Arab youth (30 percent) consider the Kingdom their biggest ally, while 23 percent cite the United States and 22 percent the UAE. Qatar ranks fourth (16 percent), followed by France (11 percent). International polling firm Penn Schoen Berland (PSB) conducted 3,500 face-to-face interviews with exclusively Arab national men and women aged 18-24 in the six Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries of the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, Oman and Bahrain; Iraq, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, Palestine, Tunisia, Morocco, Algeria and Yemen. The interviews were conducted from January 20th to February 12th, 2015. Young Saudis were polled across the country from Riyadh, Jeddah and Dammam. Saudi Arabia is viewed as a top ally in 12 countries that were covered by the survey. Within the Kingdom, Saudi youth overwhelmingly view the US (53 percent) and the UAE (41 percent) as their country's biggest allies. Commenting on the findings Sunil John, CEO of ASDA'A Burson-Marsteller, said: “The findings of the Arab Youth Survey 2015 are significant, particularly in the current political context as Saudi Arabia plays a central role in the wider Middle East region. Arab youth see the Kingdom a trusted partner for their country to achieve regional stability and growth.” In addition to its prominence as a regional ally, Saudi Arabia's domestic growth policies are also endorsed by the majority of its youth with 95 percent saying they think the Kingdom is heading in the “right direction”. When asked to describe how they feel about the future of their country, 88 percent choose a positive adjective, compared to 63 percent in the rest of the region. Further highlighting their satisfaction with domestic policies, 92 percent of Saudi youth say they generally feel safe in their country compared to 57 percent elsewhere in the region. Youth in Saudi Arabia cite the rise of ISIS – also known as Daesh, the self-proclaimed Islamic State of Iraq and Levant – as the biggest obstacle facing the Middle East followed by unemployment (45 percent) and the rising cost of living (44 percent). Though concerned about these issues, young Saudis express a great deal of confidence in their national government's ability to tackle these challenges. Four in five (78 percent) are “confident” the government can deal with unemployment, 77 percent the growing influence of ISIS, and 75 percent its ability to deal with the rising cost of living. Highlighting the entrepreneurial climate in the Kingdom, many young Saudis are looking to start their own business, with almost half of those polled (46 percent) say they intend to start a business in the next five years. As a major oil exporter, it is no surprise that most Saudi youth express concern about declining oil prices, but they also believe the drop is temporary and that the oil production should continue as is. Over half (54 percent) are “concerned” about falling energy prices while 49 percent think the current levels of oil production should continue. Almost all young Saudis view Arabic as central to their identity and express considerably less concern about the Arabic language losing its value than youth in most Arab countries. A significant majority, however, agree that knowing English can advance one's career (91 percent) and 70 percent stating they are more likely to use English on a daily basis. In other key findings, television plays a more important role among young Saudis than other youth across the region. Three in four (75 percent) of Saudi youth cite television as their dominant source of news, compared to 60 percent region-wide. It is also the most trusted source of news for 62 percent Saudi youth compared to 35 percent youth across the region. Social media is seen as a source of news by 18 percent of Saudi youth, but trusted by only 14 percent. Only one in three (33 percent) of youth outside the GCC are confident in their government's ability to tackle the issue of unemployment, a significant difference compared to the GCC at 68 percent. High unemployment rates continue to be a pressing concern for the region as its youth population grows. Overall unemployment rates differ significantly across the region from as low as 11 percent in Kuwait to over 30 percent in Morocco, according to United Nations data. Meanwhile, the Middle East and North Africa needs to create 80-100 million jobs by 2020 to maintain its current unemployment rates, according to the World Bank. Just over a quarter (27 percent) of non-GCC Arab youth say there are good job opportunities in the area they live, compared to 65 percent in the GCC. While decades of oil income have helped GCC states provide secure public sector jobs for the majority of their citizens, many non-GCC countries continue to struggle. Regional governments, concerned about unemployment rates, growing populations and a desire to diversify their economies, are encouraging more citizens to enter the private sector or establish their own businesses. The survey sees positive trends in this area. Nearly two in five (39 percent) young Arabs are looking to start a business within the next five years, with technology and retail being the most popular sectors. When asked to suggest what national governments should do to further encourage entrepreneurship, one third (32 percent) say they should encourage affordable lending. They cite improving available training and education (26 percent) as the second most pressing measure followed by reducing regulation and red tape (19 percent). — SG
