FROM THE KINGDOM ...... 

SAUDI ARABIA AND FOREIGN OIL FIRMS DISCUSS IMPLEMENTATION OF PROJECTS

Deputy Prime Minister and Commander of the National Guard Crown Prince Abdullah bin Abdulaziz met in Jeddah on June 23 with top executives of ExxonMobil and Royal Dutch Shell to discuss details of three multibillion-dollar gas projects. The meetings with ExxonMobil’s Lee Raymond and Shell’s Phil Watts were attended by Minister of Foreign Affairs Prince Saud Al-Faisal, chairman of the ministerial committee for negotiations with foreign oil companies, and Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources Ali Al-Naimi.

The Jeddah-based English-language daily Arab News quoted senior Saudi officials at the meeting as saying the talks focused on ways of eliminating minor differences which have slowed down implementation of the projects. Saudi Arabia signed  agreements with eight major U.S. and European oil companies to invest in development of the natural gas and petrochemicals sectors, as well as in production of electricity and desalinated water. ExxonMobil has the lead in two projects, while Royal Dutch Shell leads the third project, together requiring initial investments of some 25 billion U.S. dollars. The newspaper said the meetings came after two deadlines in December 2001 and March 2002 passed without agreement between the Kingdom and eight international oil firms on the details of the projects.

The newspaper quoted sources as saying Saudi Arabia and the oil companies had made headway in eliminating differences and that work on the projects would begin soon. Minister Al-Naimi has said that the projects would boost the economy, create more jobs for Saudis, and help establish strong partnerships and alliances with specialized international companies.

CONSULTATIVE COUNCIL CALLS FOR LONG-TERM PLAN FOR EDUCATION

The Majlis Al-Shura (Consultative Council) on June 24 called on the Supreme Education Council to prepare a long-term plan for university education for at least 25 years, defining its goals, quality, requirements and financial sources. The 120-member Council also stressed the need for quick implementation of the resolutions passed by the Council of Ministers to solve admission problems at universities and other higher education institutions, taking into account government plans to establish new technical, medical and community colleges over the next four years. The Council also called for opening new specializations for girls at universities.

“The council emphasized proposals which call for absorbing secondary school graduates, who failed to receive university admission, in the military, civilian and private sectors,” said Council Secretary-General Dr. Hamoud Al-Badr. The Council also called for more jobs for lecturers at universities to improve the quality of higher education.

The Council will present its proposals on university admission to the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Fahd bin Abdulaziz for appropriate action. Council studies indicate that the education sector will need an annual budget allocation of some 90 billion Saudi riyals (24 billion U.S. dollars) by the year 2020, when the Kingdom’s population is expected to reach 30 million and the number of students will exceed eight million. At present there are 4.8 million students enrolled at the Kingdom’s schools, colleges and universities.

MORE THAN 1,200 PROJECTS AWARDED TO FOREIGN INVESTORS

The Saudi Arabian General Investment Authority (SAGIA) granted foreign investors a  total of 1,203 licences for projects worth 43.68 billion Saudi riyals (11.65 billion U.S. dollars) between its establishment in April 2000 through the end of June 2002. SAGIA Deputy Governor Fahd Al-Sharif told Al-Yom newspaper that of the 1,203 projects, 794 worth 32.25 billion riyals (8.6 billion dollars) were wholly-owned by foreign investors. The remaining 409, worth 11.4 billion riyals (3.04 billion dollars), were joint ventures between Saudi and foreign investors, with Saudi investors putting up six billion riyals (1.6 billion dollars). Mr. Al-Sharif said industrial investments accounted for 530 projects worth 25.4 billion riyals (6.77 billion dollars) while the services sector accounted for 671 projects worth 18.3 billion riyals (4.88 billion dollars). Mr. Al-Sharif said SAGIA would in future focus on small and medium-scale projects because they employ more workers and need smaller investments.

KINGDOM PROVIDES LOANS TO YEMEN

Saudi Arabia has agreed to provide new loans worth 585 million Saudi riyals (156 million U.S. dollars) to Yemen for development projects. The loan agreements were signed on the sidelines of a meeting of the Saudi-Yemeni Coordination Council in Jeddah on June 15. A statement issued after the meeting said the Saudi Development Fund would provide 187.5 million riyals (50 million dollars) to establish a power plant in Maareb, 187.5 million riyals (50 million dollars) to expand existing power plants in Sanaa and Aden, and 210 million riyals (56 million dollars) to build technological institutes, vocational training centers and engineering works for road projects.