May 12, 2006

A MESSAGE TO THE CUSTODIAN OF THE TWO HOLY MOSQUES FROM THE FRENCH PRESIDENT. KING ABDULLAH IBN ABDUL AZIZ ISSUES HIS DIRECTIVES TO ESTABLISH THE MOST ADVANCED FINANCIAL CENTER IN THE MIDDLE EAST IN RIYADH. PRINCE SAUD AL-FAISAL URGES THE QUARTET TO REVIEW THE REASONS BEHIND THE OBSTRUCTION OF THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE ROAD MAP. THE SAUDI MINISTER OF PETROLEUM: THE KINGDOM ALONE WILL BE CAPABLE OF MEETING 50 PERCENT OF THE INCREASE IN THE GLOBAL DEMAND ANTICIPATED BY THE YEAR 2010. SAUDI ARABIA ELECTED AS MEMBER OF THE UN HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL. LABOR MINISTER DR. GHAZI AL-GOSAIBI EMPHASIZES THE GOVERNMENT'S RESOLVE TO EXPAND JOB OPPORTUNITIES FOR SAUDI WOMEN IN DIFFERENT ECONOMIC SECTORS. The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah Ibn Abdul Aziz received at the Royal Court at Alyamamah palace in Riyadh the Kingdom's General Mufti Sheikh Abdul Aziz Ibn Abdullah Al Al Sheikh, who is also Chairman of the Senior Ulema Commission and Religious Research Department and Ifta; Sheikh Salih Ibn Mohammed Al-Lihaidan, Chief of Supreme Judiciary Council, other scholars and sheikhs who came to greet him. The audience was attended by Prince Fahd Ibn Mohammed Ibn Abdul Aziz; Prince Dr. Abdul Aziz Ibn Nasser Ibn Abdul Aziz; Prince Dr. Bandar Ibn Salman Ibn Mohammed Al Saud, Advisor to the King; Prince Abdul Aziz Ibn Fahd Ibn Abdul Aziz, Minister of State, Member of the Cabinet and Chief of the Court of the Cabinet's Presidency; and senior protocol officials. The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah Ibn Abdul Aziz received a message from President Jacques Chirac of France. The message was handed over to the Monarch by the French president's diplomatic advisor Jordou Montani during a reception given to him and his companions at the royal court at Al Yamamah palace in Riyadh. At the outset of the meeting, the French President's Advisor conveyed to the King the greetings of President Chirac. In turn, King Abdullah sent his greetings to the president. The audience was attended by Prince Bandar Ibn Sultan Ibn Abdul Aziz, Secretary General of the national security council; Prince Abdulaziz Ibn Abdullah Ibn Abdul Aziz, advisor to the king; Prince Dr. Bandar Ibn Salman Ibn Mohammed Al Saud, Advisor to the king: Prince Abdul Aziz Ibn Fahd Ibn Abdul Aziz, Minister of State, Member of the Cabinet and Chief of the Court of the Cabinet's Presidency: senior protocol officials and French Ambassador to the kingdom Charles- Henri d'Aragon. On the other hand the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah Ibn Abdul Aziz has issued his directives to establish an advanced financial center in Riyadh comprising all financial institutions. The King made this announcement in an address at a seminar on "Building Future," which was opened this morning in Riyadh under his patronage. The seminar is organized by the Ministry of Finance, the Stock Market Commission, the Saudi Arabian General Investment Authority (SAGIA) in cooperation with the Euro-money Corporation. In his address, which was read on his behalf by Minister of Finance Dr Ibrahim Al-Assaf, King Abdullah said "we are a faithful nation, and our belief in Almighty Allah makes us work for our present and future, and we believe that it is our duty to work for our new generations, for our sons and grandsons. In the Kingdom, we are keen on adopting well-studied policies because we are keen on balancing the future with the present. "The performance of our economy last year was good because our economy grew by the rate of more than 6.5 percent, while the growth rate at the private sector amounted to about seven percent and the government's budget attained a big surplus, thanks to Almighty Allah and thanks to the increasing oil revenues. We have earned the fruits of the economic reform program, and we expect to go ahead on the path of good economic performance." King Abdullah noted that the economic reform program aims at boosting and diversifying the national economy. He pointed out that numerous systems and procedures were undertaken last year to improve the investment environment. "These systems and procedures include arrangements at the judiciary organs, settling disputes, the labor system, the electricity system and a council for protecting the fair competition. "In this context, our directives in the last two years stipulated allocation of the surplus of the budget for financing development projects and ensuring the welfare of the citizens in the sectors of transport, health, education, training and water. They also aimed at boosting the capitals of development, real estate and industrial funds as well as the Saudi credit bank in addition to repaying a part of the general debt, which we are keen on its reduction in a manner that does not have an adverse impact on the process of economic development. We do give a great attention to investment in the infrastructure projects because they are necessary for the growth in the present and in the future. We will also give a special attention to the human resources because the real wealth of the nation is its sons. We will focus on education, training, specially in the specializations and skills required by the economy. Thanks to Almighty Allah, our efforts to join the World Trade Organization (WTO) were culminated into success, and we hope that this development will positively contribute to the development of our economy, and make us an effective member in the formulation of the the international cooperation system in coordination with other members. What makes us happy is that the commitments we have made don't contradict with our economic situation and with our values and principles. Despite the achievements we have made in the field of human and material resources development in the last three decades, our ambitions and aspirations are bigger than what we have attained." King Abdullah said "We are keen on making our economy a prosperous and diversified one as well as an economy which is capable of playing a pioneering role at regional and international arenas and meeting the aspirations of the citizens. We are aware of the challenges that face our economy, including development of our human resources, enhancing the competitive capability of our economy as well as development of our establishments and administration and making job opportunities available for the citizens in addition to the ideal utilization for the national workforce and realization of a balanced development and creation of an environment which is attractive for investment. Confrontation of the challenges requires continuous work for building the components of sustainable development and for going ahead on the path of economic reform through administrative reform at the governmental sector, enhancing transparency of work and improving the investment environment and following economic and monetary policies that support the process of development taking into account the importance of the stability of the prices, development of the stock market so as to make it an effective way for expanding and diversifying the investment domains. Within the framework of the ongoing efforts to develop the financial sector, an advanced financial center will be established in Riyadh. The center will include the financial institutions that work in the financial sector. We will encourage the private sector to increase its contribution to the process of economic and social development through an effective partnership between the governmental and private sectors. We are going ahead on the path of economic openness and enhancing the constructive response with the foreign world in a manner that serves our interests and enhances the situation of our country at the international arena." Meanwhile, the finance minister said the King has approved to name the center after his name, and so the center will be called: "King Abdullah Financial Center." On his part, minister of petroleum and mineral resources Eng Ali al-Naimi said the Kingdom has positively contributed to confront the increasing world demand for petroleum, and consequently the Kingdom's production has jumped from 7.7 million barrels per day in 1999 to 9.5 million barrels per day. Pointing out that the Kingdom had a spare production capacity of 1.8 million barrels per day (bpd), Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources Ali Al-Naimi declared that the country could meet the excess demand, if necessary. "The Kingdom alone will be capable of meeting 50 percent of the increase in the global demand anticipated by the year 2010," the minister told the international conference, "Building the Future", organized by Euro-money. Delivering his speech on the "Petroleum Market and Industry: A Futuristic View", the minister said: "I believe oil prices during this decade will hold steady." The minister said the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), with the Kingdom as a major oil producer, could meet the anticipated growth in global crude demand. However, the world will face a refining capacity crunch for the next four years. He attributed part of the problem to rigorous government regulations in major industrialized countries and severe restrictions imposed by them on refining operations and the quality of petroleum products, both locally and globally. "As for the Kingdom's production, we are willing to increase it if there is a need and the new additions to production will be of light crude." OPEC supplies about a third of the world's oil, but has been unable to rein in prices. It meets next on June 1 and several ministers have reiterated the group is powerless in bringing down prices. Al-Naimi pointed out that Saudi Aramco is working to increase its refinery capacity within the next five years by about two million barrel per day. He urged the major oil consuming and producing countries to cooperate for overcoming obstacles that might face the refinery industry so as to make the oil market stable. Al-Naimi said the Kingdom is keen on the stability of the oil market. He expected that the Saudi economy will steadily go ahead on the path of growth within the upcoming years. The Kingdom will witness within this decade a great expansion in the production of petrochemicals, he said. Al-Naimi said Ras-al-zour city will be established as the first integrated mining city in the Kingdom within the next five years. He noted that the Cabinet had approved the strategy of privatization of Ma'aden company and to increase its capital to SR 8 billion. The Kingdom's economic future is promising and bright, and it is hoped that the Kingdom will be in the list of the biggest 20 economies of the world by the end of this decade, he added. Then, the chairman of the board of directors of Emaar Real Estate Company Mohammad Ali Ala'bbar delivered a speech in which he commended the comprehensive progress in the kingdom. He expressed happiness for King Abdullah economic city's contribution to the this progress through building this futuristic city to embrace the future generation of Saudi citizens. Afterward, the sessions of the two-day symposium started in Al Faisaliah hotel's Prince Sultan Ibn Abdul Aziz hall in Riyadh. In New York U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan hosted members of the Middle East peacemaking Quartet and foreign ministers from Saudi Arabia, Jordan, and Egypt to discuss a solution to political and humanitarian problems in the Middle East. The main Quartet principles include Annan, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, and European Union (EU) foreign policy chief Javier Solana. Other Europeans participating in the meeting are Austrian Foreign Minister Ursula Plassnik, whose country holds the current EU presidency, and EU Commissioner for External Relations Benita Ferrero Waldner. Three key Middle Eastern countries also participated in the meetings. Saudi Arabia was represented by Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal. Saudi Arabia's ambassador to the United States, Prince Turki al-Faisal, also attended. Egypt was represented by Minister of Foreign Affairs Ali Abou Gheit, and Jordan was represented by Minister of Foreign Affairs Abdelelah Al-Khatib. "We are here to find solutions to the issue of Palestine," a Saudi diplomat told S.P.A. on condition of anonymity. He noted that the meeting would likely involve discussing future strategies for funding the Palestinian Authority (PA) as well as key political issues. Although U.N. officials and Middle Eastern diplomats said there is no scheduled agenda for the Quartet talks, participants are expected to discuss how to deliver humanitarian aid to the Palestinian territories despite the refusal of the United States and the EU to work directly with the Hamas-dominated Palestinian government. The situation in the Middle East is "dangerously deteriorating," and lawlessness is worsening, U.N. Middle East coordinator Alvaro de Soto told the Security Council last month. He attributed that Palestinians' financial crisis to the discontinued support from traditional donors, Israel's withholding of tax revenues, and the loss of economic activity in the Palestinian territories. "The Palestinian Authority has not paid March salaries to the more than 150,000 civil servants, of whom some 70,000 are members of the security forces," de Soto said. Saudi Arabia over one month ago pledged $92 million to the Palestinian Authority. The authority now has pledges of more than $200 million, including $10 million from Russia and $50 million each from Qatar and Iran. UN Secretary General Kofi Annan met with Prince Saud Al-Faisal, Ahmad Abul-Ghait and Abdul-Ilah Al-Khateeb, the foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Jordan respectively after their participation in the meetings of the Middle East peacemaking quartet. A spokesman for the UN said the participants of the meeting had reviewed with the UN Secretary General a number of regional issues including the Palestinian problem in the light of the deteriorating humanitarian situation in the Palestinian territories as well as the latest developments in Lebanon and Syria, the Iranian nuclear issue and the problem of Darfur in Sudan. The participants of the meeting underscored the importance of extending humanitarian assistance to the Palestinian people as well as extending support to the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNWRA). Prince Saud Al-Faisal said in a statement that the Quartet exchanged views and expressed his hopes that the Quartet will think back about the reasons behind the obstruction of the implementation of the road map and correct the situation. Prince Saud added that this will not be achieved unless a mechanism to supervise the implementation and hold responsible those who obstruct it is set up. On another development the United Nations elected 44 of the initial 47 members of its new Human Rights Council in a first round. Saudi Arabia was elected, receiving 126 votes out of a possible 191 votes in the U.N. General Assembly. Other Arab nations in the Asian bloc that were selected were Bahrain, with 134 votes, and Jordan, with 137 votes. Lebanon, Iran, and Iraq did not receive enough votes, and Qatar received only one vote. Arab states that won seats in the African bloc include Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia. Of the five regions, only the Eastern European group will require another round of voting to fill three out of its allocated six posts. "They [elected countries] reflect the will of the member states," U.N. General Assembly President Jan Eliasson told reporters after the vote. "It is a reflection of the United Nations, of the whole body of the U.N., and I will not comment on any individual country performance but to underline that I find it very important that all member states have made pledges and commitments that they expect to live up to." On another development the Labor Minister Dr. Ghazi Al-Gosaibi emphasized the government's resolve to expand job opportunities for Saudi women in different economic sectors. "In a decision taken two years ago, the Cabinet allowed women to work in any economic activities," Al-Gosaibi said in a statement carried by the Saudi Press Agency. The Cabinet also instructed authorities to open women's sections in government departments so that women could follow up their matters on their own. The minister said the decision to restrict jobs in lingerie shops to Saudi women was taken to increase job opportunities for Saudi women who wanted to work in order to contribute to the support of their families. The decision regarding lingerie shops will be implemented in two phases. In the first phase that begins on June 18, jobs in shops along the streets, central markets and major shopping centers will be restricted to Saudi women. In the second phase set to begin a year later, sales jobs in shops selling abayas and women's readymade dresses will be restricted to Saudi women. The ministry has appointed 30 women officials in Riyadh, Jeddah and Dammam to implement the Council of Ministers' decision. "Creating jobs for women is not a new thing. It started 25 years ago when the Manpower Council was established," Al-Gosaibi said. He said a special religious panel had approved the manpower council's plan for expanding job opportunities for women in health, education, social care and other areas such as printing, copying, tailoring and embroidery work. In an earlier decision, the Cabinet allowed women to work in areas such as women's branches of banks, security checks for women at airports and other entry points and also conducting Islamic dawa work among women. Al-Gosaibi set out conditions for women's employment, which included approval by the guardian, jobs must be suitable to women's nature, work should not prevent women from carrying out their family duties, they should not mix with men and they should wear Islamic dress. He said the government gave extra importance to women's jobs after it observed a greater demand for jobs and also because of growing number of women graduates. The Labor Ministry has put the rate of unemployment among Saudi women at 28 percent. "The problem is not the lack of an adequate number of Saudi women workers but with creating a better job atmosphere, in terms of salaries and suitable timings," said Abdul Wahid Al-Humaid, deputy Labor minister for planning and development. He said labor offices across the Kingdom were ready to receive applications from women jobseekers. The Labor Ministry has launched a campaign aimed at employing 200,000 women. Some of the jobs identified for Saudi women are receptionists, tailors, banquet hall employees, nutritionists, governesses, photographers, beauticians, caterers, and hospitality and recreation industry workers.