Saudi Arabia: Oil, The Youth And A Fund
For Future Generations
29 December 2012
By Abdul Rahman Al-Rashed
It's the annual-budget season in Saudi Arabia. This is
the time of year when every extra zero means a lot to
everyone, for the government is the mother and
caretaker of the people. The budget, in itself, is
nothing but a project that outlines the hopes – but
not guarantees – for the forthcoming year based on
anticipated oil revenues. Gulf countries rely on oil,
and even their other sources of revenue are indirectly
linked to this sector, including petrochemical
products like fertilizers and plastics, not to mention
labour and services charges.
That is why King Abdullah prayed that Saudi Arabia's
oil resources enjoy a long life, namely because this
is the country's main source of revenue. In just one
week, Saudi Arabia's oil production equals the entire
revenue of a country like Jordan which sells small
amounts of phosphate and trains its citizens to work
as teachers and engineers abroad so that they can
bring revenues back into the country. It is even
better when an oil or gas producing country's citizens
do not exceed the 300,000 mark as is the case with
Qatar. In just one day, Qatari revenues may equal the
revenues of a country like Bahrain over an entire
year. Whilst in the past, Bahrain was the richest Gulf
state when pearls were its main source of revenue.
That's life!
This is why oil-producing countries have greater
responsibilities, for they have no excuse when one of
their citizens has no job, or when a citizen is sick
but cannot get treatment, or when a citizen lacks
insurance or does not feel safe in his home. It is the
government's duty to provide citizens with these
services. When officials are upset at being
criticized, they forget that it is their job to serve
the people and the budget is how a government
expresses its plans to serve the people.
The duty of countries with strong revenues, like
oil-producing countries, is not just to cater to the
daily needs of their citizens, but also to ensure
their future for the coming 100 years. It is their
duty to preserve the country's wealth and environment,
and guarantee a better future for the youth and
children. Here, I disagree with those who launched the
so-called "Future Generations' Fund" initiative, even
though I agree with the objectives it aims to achieve.
It is not true that money is the guarantor for a
better future for the coming generations and there are
examples of countries that pursued this approach but
which ultimately ended in failure. Some might recall
Kuwait's Future Generations' Fund and how it
epitomized a vision for the future. In this fund, the
Kuwaiti government allocated part of the country's
revenue to future generations. However following the
Iraqi invasion of Kuwait, this money completely
disappeared and nobody knows what happened to the
revenue of Kuwait's future generations, which had been
invested in Europe.
That is why I think it is wise that the Saudi
financial system – which is criticized for being
conservative and refusing to purchase companies or
take economic risks – is wise in this regard, because
governments do not have the right to take risks when
it comes to public funds. People are more important
than money and oil, for they are the true capital of
any prosperous country. Complex road systems, huge
factories, and skyscrapers can all – in the blink of
an eye – disappear whether as a result of war or a new
technology replacing oil. A well-qualified and
educated people represent the "oil" that will never
run out, no matter what disasters take place.
Our governments – which are blessed with money and oil
– have to invest in their people. They have to improve
the general standard of education, which unfortunately
is still not at the requisite level, as well as train
graduates and enhance the skills of employees in both
the private and public sectors. This is the real
future generations' fund that can never be mismanaged,
embezzled or vaporised by a financial crisis. This is
the future generations' fund that cannot be usurped by
a foreign power during a conflict or war. What King
Abdullah did by encouraging approximately 150,000
Saudi youth to study abroad at universities across the
world represents the true future generations' fund.
This is something that can provide guarantees for
Saudi Arabia that not even its oil resources or
sovereign wealth funds can.
Al
Rashed is the general manager of Al -Arabiya
television. He is also the former editor-in-chief of
Asharq Al- Awsat, and the leading Arabic weekly
magazine, Al Majalla. He is also a senior Columnist in
the daily newspapers of Al Madina and Al Bilad. He is
a US post-graduate degree in mass communications. He
has been a guest on many TV current affairs programs.
He is currently based in Dubai.
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EsinIslam.Com
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