Fahad, Chief Editor
Diaa, Thamer, Noufal & Ahmed; Contributing Editors
The lights are on and the carpets have been rolled out. It’s the second day of the most spectacular event of the year, Jeddah Economic Forum. The guest list includes the most prominent names from the political & business world who all are trail blazers in their own way. As the crowd is gathering after yet another gourmet lunch, the noise from the conversations and laughter takes a toll over the entire room.
It’s the 4th session and the theme is, “Energy: Alliances of Horses and Forces”. Alastair Stewart takes on the stage once again and greets & delivers the opening speech of the session. As he talks about the different issues concerning energy, I’m sipping on my cup of chilled orange juice sitting on my chair and couldn’t help but wonder, about the speakers for taking time out and being here to show their willingness to work together and make changes for a better tomorrow. People do care.
Eric S. Maskin, from Institute for Advanced Study, it was his turn to enlighten us with his words of wisdom. A very dignified gentleman, he focused on globalization & its effects on different countries. Over the years its well known that globalization has expanded at a massive level. We all happen to be in different places geographically but have access to commodities that are being produced in say Spain & are available to consumers in a small town in Pakistan. The benefits of globalization outlined by him were declining costs such as transportation and communication. It has lead to prosperity in developing countries e.g. China & India. He also mentioned the reasons to why countries trade. Due to the factors of production, such as labor may be cheap in one place for producing rice than in another.
Next was the respectable Abdula Dabbagh , the President and C.E.O of Maaden, who talked about the economic diversification and the challenges they face in order to achieve the desired magnitude which is necessary for fully utilizing the potential they have.
He also spoke on S.A being a member of the WTO and how they are more open to trading and business practices. Also elaborating on the mining and mineral industries and how to use these resources and creating a web of alliances while using expertise in the up coming industrial projects. Other developments in S.A will include the introduction of a railway system which can be used for transporting raw materials etc.
I have noticed that people intend to worry themselves sick about problems that never materialize, and the ones that throw you sideways are the unexpected ones, perhaps the problems you chose to ignore or label them less-important. Saudi Arabia is the largest economy in the Middle East but that is not the shield that covers us from the obstacles we face or may face in the near future. Many energy experts say owning oil fields provides no real energy security. It does not cushion against a rising cost of energy.
Saudi Arabia is way too much dependent on oil but is on the verge of making changes.
The stage was then taken by John Defterious, Host, CNN. After his opening remarks he introduced the panel, which included, Peter J. Robertson Vice-Chairman, Chevron, Aslakhanov Aslambek, Advisor to the President of the Russian Federation, Dr. Ali Raza Attar, Deputy Prime Minister of Islamic Republic of Iran and Khalid Alyahya, Co-Founder & president, Middle East, Asia Capital Partners (MAP).
The session also included interacting with the crowd by asking for their views through a voting panel which kept everyone interested.
They discussed different issues relating to energy, including the high demand for energy, consumption and the E.U energy market.
Despite the fact that Saudi Arabia showed strong economic performance due to high oil prices, increasing oil production and export earnings, the shift is still very compulsory for becoming an energy leader because the never stopping demand could lead to drastic shortfall in supply. This could easily end in a serious energy crisis situation.
Keeping an optimistic view after all that has been said and done, from bringing out the major highs and manic lows, surrounding the hot topic of Energy lets hope that the world can find itself that fat cozy cushion to fall back on when there is not enough oil to quench everyone’s thirst.
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