Session Three (Part 1) - From Boom to Prosperity

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

As the second day of the forum comes to its beginning with another sunny and lovely day… I think that this day will be one of the most interesting and exciting session of the forum as some of the audience assured me.

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The session mainly discussed how these days oil in Saudi Arabia is the major and maybe the only source of economical growth, which is a big risk as this natural source could finish or at least decrease in the future. Some of the speakers suggested to make use of the human capital which is a great wealth that has been ignored in many counties all over the world.

Dr. Alan Greenspan, former & chairman of the board of governors of the federal reserve of the United States, believed in taking risks and explained how risk is a huge cause behind any success.

Another speaker was Dr. Muhammad AlJasser, Vice governor SAMA. He discussed about the Saudi Economy from several points of view. The most important thing was about how any development can’t be achieved with out a sustainable, transparent, and predictable macroeconomic framework.

After that Jim O’Neil, from Goldman Sachs, joined us, presenting his studies and predictions of GDP changes and development in the coming 25 years. He suggested that Saudi Arabia can achieve devolvement and prosperity by having a stable macroeconomics, strong political infrastructure, economic openness, & providing higher level of education. In relation to that Mr. David Lewis, Lord Mayor of London, suggested some similar factor that may be the reasons behind any development & thriving prosperity, he agreed that education is a very important factor, in addition to that comes partnerships and diversification and how they are constructive for any country.

At that point of the forum, Prof. Muhammad Yunus, Grameen Bank Founder & 2006 Nobel Prize Recipient, was like the glow which lightened the room with his gleaming success story. His social business grew all over the years and developed to be speared all over the world. He believed in beggars and poor people and supported them with all he can do by lending them small amounts of money since 1976, which ended to be the reason of having almost 100% of Bangladesh children to be in school and to move to a higher level of education as well. He finally wished to keep poverty in museums for the coming generations. I think this legend is one of a kind “he’s like the father of poverty”.

This session ended by a small discussion between several speakers, Mr. Abdilkareem Abu AlNasr (CEO NCB), Atif Adbulmalik (CEO Arcapita), and Maha AlGhunaim (MD Global Investment House). They mainly stressed on having high levels of education and partnerships between Government and private sectors, can lead to a glamorous success and boon in prosperity.