Final Words JEF 2008

Budoor

It is not a day I wanted to come as quickly as it did, but it has. Today is the last day of JEF 2008. I can say that it is a wonderful ending for my first ever JEF. There has been tremendous business and abounding discussions which provided solutions for a bright future in order to develop wealth and strengthen partnerships in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia and the surrounding region.

In this post, my intention is not to add much more than what my colleagues have already said. As my colleagues expressed much of my passion about what we heard; starting from the introductory session and ending with the two final closing sessions.

I thought a lot about what I wanted to say today and it has come to this: We should first thank security for their great work and their sincere effort that they have done in organizing this forum, which has made it as successful as it is. Also, special thanks goes to the participation of the ladies working with the aurally challenged and the great attention that was paid in using sign language throughout the forum which I felt was a marvelous thing.

Finally, all what I want to say that I am so proud to be a part of this wonderful occasion. And I feel even prouder to be witness to the extent of many women advancement in intellectual thinking, culture perspectives, and economical development.

To JEF, for giving us the opportunity to be a part of this great event, Thank you.















Overlooking the entry way

Final Comments

Dina Ismail


I would also like to take this final opportunity to commend the organizers of JEF ’08 on what was an unforgettable and educational three days. It was unlike anything I have ever seen before and I can only hope to be invited back next year.

A great end to an unbelievably productive and eye-opening three days . . . we’ll have to see if JEF 2009 can top it!

Final Thoughts

Fahad



Well in summary, there were many important topics that were elaborated during this year’s forum that could actually be defining factors for our society. It was quite a ride. I’m sure all the people who attended JEF gained some knowledge. I know I did.

Full of glamour and glitter the event was with out a doubt a success. The movers and shakers from within the country and outside played their part very impressively. JCCI did quite a decent job, but the entire event would have been colorless if it wasn’t for their strategic partner -- “Effat College” for all their hard work and unconditional support making the event an even bigger hit.

Before I say good-bye, I want to mention some names of the people who contributed enormously to the success of this component and starting the idea of adding a BLOG. They are Dr. Haifa the Dean of Effat College; Dr. Rania the Vice Dean for Student Affairs; Ms. Lisa, Coordinator of the Independent Learning Center; Dr. Emet the Director for Information and Educational Technology Services; Mrs. Alaa Sindi, Student Affairs Assistant; and of course all my fellow contributing committee members.

I appreciate the very devoted (and hopefully the future leaders of the world) young men and women responsible for writing this BLOG. It was marvelous working with all of you and I shall not soon forget it.

Till next year good luck and be well!

JEF 2008 BLOG team in action

Reflection JEF 2008

Diaa Bugis

This is the last day of a wonderful event in the business domain.

Honestly, I am a little bit blue because of the fact that I will have to attend classes tomorrow at CBA instead of returning to the exhibition center (no I am just kidding). But I do have to say that it has been quite a fabulous event.

Tomorrow I will return to normalcy. I will not get up in the morning and go to the Jeddah Exhibition Center; I will not go through the layers of security; I will not see John Defterios, Alastair Stewart and other famous speakers; I will not witness the incredible talents of organizers such as "the deaf club"; and lastly I will not have the chance to take a tea break with so many options of tea as provided by Teayana; nope tomorrow will just be an ordinary day.

All these unforgettable memories were what I experienced in JEF.

JEF 2008 BLOG Team

Session Five (Part 2) The Socio-Economic Link: The Double Helix of Life

Diaa Bugis, Chief Editor
Ahmed, Fahad, Noufal, & Thamer; Contributing Editors


This morning I came earlier than previous days, that is because I am responsible for writing the review on Session 5. I am so enthusiastic about this session which talks about “The Socio-economic Link: The Double Helix of Life”.

John Defterios (an anchor for CNN), began with the greetings and explaining what will go on in the session and the importance of labor and human capital. John said that economic development should go through education and training. After that Johen introduced the first speaker which is Sheikha Lubna.

Sheikha Lubna, UAE Minister of Labor, talked about how the UAE is taking the social economic development issues more seriously and establishing a long-term strategy to enhance the educational system. Also, Lubna focused on the training and development of human capital.
Next speaker was HRH Prince Bandar Bin Khaled, Al-Faisal University, taking about his 10 years experience with the King Faisal Foundation. He began with an introduction of community King Faisal and what they accomplished. Some of the projects they have worked on are the King Faisal Model Village (Al-Habala), the King Faisal Scholarship, the King Faisal Center for Research and Islamic study, Effat College and so on…

HRH Prince Bandar believes in a guarantee to provide education for all classes of society leads to a fulfillment of the goal of investing in human capital.

Also, he said "we have no problem at all with importing employees from abroad, but at the same time we want to qualify and develop Saudi citizen to work in the new seven economic cities".
Finally, he said “human creativity is the unlimited economic resource” and “education is the agent of change toward human development”

After a short tea break, we came back with the discussion panel featuring Mr.Andreas Schleider, Dr. Mona Mourshed, Dr. Blair Sheppard, Dr. Ghazi Bin Zager, and Dr. Haifa Jamelallil.

They discussed the issue of “Learning: How to Develop Human Capital”. Some of the topics covered were how our educational system can make a different from others, how an individual can make a big difference, and changing the environment to become a better place.
I noticed in this discussion that they all agreed that "change" can make a difference.

"Teachers" (better qualified, educated, and trained) are one of the key factors that have to be changed in order to advance education.

After the panel, Dr. Ghazi Al-Gosaibi, Saudi Minister of Labor, came to speak to us.
Frankly, I would not have expected this man to be in a position of a Minister (government official), because he joked and laughed with us and a smile never left his face (I always thought a Minister had to be serious all the time).

Dr. Ghazi talked about the importance of training. He said that most successful training programs derive from the partnership between the government sector and the private sector.
Dr. Ghazi also, mentioned that training in KSA started very late in 1970s, at which time there were only 100 students studying in technical schools. However, currently there are 95,000 students in theses schools, and the target goal of Dr. Ghazi before he retires is to have 1,000,000 trainees in these training schools.

Finally, Dr. Ghazi surprised the crowd by honoring the physically and mentally challenged and providing jobs for them.

Unfortunately, I did not see Dr. Khaled Al-Ankari the Saudi Minister of Higher Education because I prepared a question for him. Anyhow, in my opinion there are some problems in our educational system in KSA.

The emphasis in education for me is how come now that we are in the WTO there are students from some universities (with a focus on business administration) that have no linguistic skills. These are skills vital to communicating and interacting with the external world. Although I did not hear a reply to this in Dr. Khaled address but I would like to know what are the plans of The Ministry of Higher Educational to improve and develop the educational level in KSA? As I wrote above that I was unlucky I couldn't ask him, I though better luck next time!!!!! However, maybe I will be lucky and he will read my BLOG and post a comment.

Last but not least, chickens are jumping in my stomach, I'm feeling very hungry and I am going to fill my tummy. So, wait for the next session. Till then bye and t.c…cya…

Session Five (Part 1) - " The Socio-Economic link : The Double Helix of Life"

Budoor, Chief Editor
Ragahd, Eman, Dina, Hatoon, & Rama; Contributing Editors

Mr. John Defterios was the host for the fifth session which was about “The Socio-Economic link: The Double Helix of Life “, he introduced the guests for today after presenting abstract about the main thoughts and topics to be discussed.

Sheikha Lubna Al-Qasimi was the first speaker. Her speech was brief but comprehensive.
And what was special about her remarks was that she focused on education as a long term solution for many issues that we’re going through. I really praise Sheikha Lubna for participation here (although you might think I am being bias). But as a woman, I have the right to notice this remarkable woman, pay tribute to her effective participation, and be proud of her.

Next was prince Bandar bin Saud ,Chairman of the Executive Board Al-Faisal University, he spoke about his own experience in the education field and asked both private and government sectors to cooperate in financing and supporting the education sector. We hope they will do just that because there will be no economic and social growth without it.

Following was Dr. Soliman Abdel Moniem, (Arab Thought Foundation Secretary General), he compared Internet use between countries, publication of books, number of doctors, and spending on education. He used statistics to support his arguments. His speech lacked the excitement and might not have attracted as much attention as others. I even started to visualize figures revolve around me. But, his contributions of course were notable.

After that we saw a video presentation for the exchange students which included the advantages and disadvantages of education they face in their countries.

Since the effect of morning coffee began to disappear, I am definitely glad for the “teayana” break time .

After a comforting break we returned to the discussion panel moderated by Mr. John and it was about ” Learning : How to Develop Human Capital “ ,which included, Mr. Andreas Schleicher, Head of the Indicators and Analysis Division of the OECD Directorate for Education, Dr. Mona Mourshed, Partner with McKinsey & Company’s Dubai Office, Blair Sheppard, Chair of the Duke CE board of directors and the Dean of the Fuqua School of Business, Duke University, Dr. Haifa Jamal Allail, Dean of Effat College, and Dr.Ghazi Binzagr, Binzagr Group of Companies. I think they all were talking about the same idea which was about professional teachers and how they can affect the quality of education.

Our last guest for this session was one of my favorite speakers. For those who do not know him well he is a university professor, minister, ambassador, poet, novelist and writer. I hope you know who I am talking about, yes, he is Dr.Ghazi Al-Gosaibi. His presence and his sense of humor had an affective impact on the attendance. And in my opinion he succeeded in attracting attention. In his speech, he mentioned the technical school and how we are doing better than we think, but still are behind in more than we planned. Dr. Ghazi also he thanked Mr. Abdul Al-latif Jameel for his community business programs. I read a lot about Dr. Ghazi and I expected to see a somewhat stronger or more serious character but I was pleasantly surprised to find an example of a tender father in his defense of the Saudi youth and his believe in their capabilities and their potential if they are given the right opportunities.

By that we arrived to the end of the 5th session of JEF, which was a remarkable one.

I think there is one point we’re all agreed on it that economic growth can be achieved only through scientific and social development and building human capacity as a fundamental and important element in the economic equation.

Session Six (Part 2) - Landscaping The Future: Who Should Take The Lead

Fahad, Chief Editor
Diaa, Thamer, Noufal & Ahmed; Contributing Editors

What a wonderful city Jeddah is, full of life. There is always something happening that separates this city from the crowd (not your ordinary city) and makes it so ostentatious. And JEF is one of the big attractions but sadly it’s the last day of the event.

It’s the final 6th session and it started with same level of commotion & uproar as the first day of the event. Alaistair Stewart the moderator started the conference by outlining today’s theme which is, “LANDSCAPING THE FUTURE: WHO SHOULD TAKE THE LEAD?”

There was an unexpected but gratifying surprise in store for everyone. As HRH Prince Khalid Bin Faisal arrived to join us in JEF, with a grand entrance. HRH Prince Khalid was there to give away the first ever JEF Award to NCB for their efforts in benefiting the dynamics of the society. A few other awards were also given which were of the same nature.

Next agenda was Dr. Hayat Sindi, a visiting scholar, from Harvard University, a very intelligent lady indeed making the entire nation proud by her international achievements. She is the first woman in Gulf to receive a PhD in biotechnology. She spoke about her new company with Professor George Whitesides and others. The new company is called Paper Diagnostics Inc (PDI). PDI is a for-profit company, with non-profit objectives. She talked about the different area’s concerning education and believes that educating one-self should not just be about finding a job with a lush office and a handsome salary but, leaving university with the intent of being able to provide skills training and creating jobs for others. Be leaders and not followers to put it short.

This was followed by a panel discussion that included Mr.Saleh Turky, Sami Bharawi, Our very own Dr.Haifa, Dr. Ghazi Binzagar, and Dr. Mona Mursheed. Basically, the discussion surrounded how education influences our lives, the positive and negative affects of different characteristics and trends in education. Also they discussed the elements that are wrong in our system when delivering this extremely important and valuable product (education).

One of the key factors towards making a change is “accountability”. If we move in this direction perhaps more things will start falling right into place. This requires shifting from a system based on inputs to one based on outputs, but making this shift is a monumental task. Of course the end result could give us the flying colors that we are looking for. I really enjoyed Dr. Haifa’s comments; the points she stressed were not only critical but essential if we desire a change.

The highlight of today’s session had to be Sir Richard Branson who needs no introduction, a well known figure by all. I think there is no fixed meaning behind the term success as everyone’s perception of success is different. What makes one successful? Is it having a million dollar sports car or a mansion with a golden bathtub or the girl of your dreams? Some could consider success all these things but others may think the opposite. But when the founder of the Virgin Group name is mentioned all shall agree. His name appears in books and whenever there is a talk about top ‘entrepreneurs’ his name pops up. The man has grown from a single shop on Oxford Street to owning his own airlines, record company, healthcare foundations and the list goes on and on. He even lives on an Island owned by him.

He was here, looking sharp as ever and talked about how to be a leader. He spoke about what motivates him to do what he does, the satisfaction he gets from helping others, and how every business should be involved in not only furthering their own interests but working towards mutual gain. This means making money while not tearing down the fabric of society but also contributing to building and maintaining the essence of society.

Let’s be honest here for a second. When anybody starts a business they get into it for all the superficial things (money, cars, travel, power) those are generally what some say really matters.

As time passes and you have achieved all that you set out to do perhaps you are in a position to make a difference. This is when it would not hurt for you to start taking steps towards innovating, creating value, and helping others. Basically, at the end of the day there is more to life then just buying something for a dollar and selling it for two.

Before I end, I just want to say that in this year’s event my three favorite speakers were HRH, Prince Turki (a real man of substance), Richard Branson (a true prodigy in the business world), and the phenomenal Professor Mohammad Yunus.