Skip to main content

Saudi Arabia's example of investing oil wealth at home

Dr. Abdulrahman Al-Zamil, Chairman of Saudia Arabia's multi-industry conglomerate Zamil Group and CEO of National Chemical Carriers Ltd., said here Thursday that Gulf Arab states shall follow Saudi Arabia's example of investing oil wealth at home rather than buying assets abroad.

Speaking at the three-day annual Gulf Petrochemicals and Chemicals Association (GPCA), Al-Zamil said that Saudi-Arabia's conservative investment policy has saved the kingdom from the full impact of financial crisis. He urged all members of the Gulf Co- operation Council (GCC), to build up their own industries and to export "petrochemicals and pharmaceuticals, rather than barrels of oil," said Al-Zamil.

The industry tycoon added that oil was sold Thursday in Europe at world market prices of 110 U.S. dollars per barrel although it is only stored there, "but the GCC states have much higher costs and less benefits from exporting pure barrels."

Unlike sovereign wealth funds in Kuwait, Abu Dhabi or Dubai, Saudi Arabia hosts the world's largest petrochemical producer, Saudi Basic Industries (SABIC). According to research data compiled by the GPCA, petrochemicals account for 72 percent of Saudi Arabia's non-oil exports, compared to 61 percent in Kuwait and 9 percent in the UAE.

Investing most of oil export revenues abroad and hoarding money on bank accounts was the wrong way for the GCC, said Al-Zamil. " Look at Libya, it lost billions by investing abroad. Look at the Kuwaiti banks or Dubai, both of which were hit badly by the global financial crisis," he said, adding that public funding by the Saudi government paid off in 97 percent of all projects, while " global shopping tours" were much more risky.

In fact, Kuwait's largest investment bank Global Investment House, which avoided a near-bankruptcy in 2008 after suffering losses in foreign exchange trading, has still not overcome the crisis as the lender agreed a week ago with creditors to restructure 1.7 billion dollars of debt. State-funds of the emirate of Dubai and Abu Dhabi divested from a number of engagements abroad.The Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund Aabar Investments sold its remaining 3 percent stake in Germany's Daimler AG in October.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Panglao Island Environmental Problems

By Romy Teruel One environmental and tourism issue that will keep on cropping up unless decisive actions are done is the issue of easement along beaches as prescribed by the Water Code of the Philippines.  This has cropped up before and now it is here again.    The conference that Gov. Erico B. Aumentado held with the hotel and resort owners of Panglao and Dauis last Friday is an example of laws wanting in implementation. While the laws are clear and guidelines are prescribed, willing compliance has remained a problem.  The Water Code of the Philippines prescribes a 20-meter easement from the high water mark on the beach towards inland where no permanent structure can be constructed whatsoever.  We need not send experts however to know that compliance is more in the breach than observance.  This prompts observers to ask "What happened to Bohol's thrust on eco-tourism and environmental conservation and protection?"  And this is usually followed by "They are killing...
Post a Comment
Read more

How to Maintain Good Posture

SOME people walk gracefully while others slump.      You know something is wrong.When you  see a frumpy figure gazing  back at you in the mirror.     Good posture can change all   that. A woman striding confidently into a room with her shoulders  straight  and head held high has the ability to break hearts. A man standing straight-backed, with just the right tilt to his square chin, will stand out from the rest of the slumped party-goers.     Good posture is easy to attain.   The steps to proper posture are simple, and they begin with the stomach. The belly button should be pulled back into the spine,  sucked up into the lungs. The ribs, in turn, should be held lightly under a buoyant chest and shoulders that are back and relaxed. The collarbones should be down, while the chin is slightly lifted, creating long, swan-like neck.     The  feeling is of being pulled upward from a string attached to the top of your head, with the entire spine stretched and extended. And on top of this b...
Post a Comment
Read more

Walk-out staged by members of the minority bloc in the Sangguniang Panlungsod

Sunday Post Editorial: The walk-out staged by members of the minority bloc in the Sangguniang Panlungsod Friday brings the city council to a point of no return. It now hangs in the balance that may not hold long enough for both ends of the political spectrum.   This is not about the legitimacy or lack of it of the walk-out. There is an overdose on the pros and cons of the act. It was a shameful act or an honorable thing to do depending on one's political orientation. Of course, the minority bloc should drop all pretensions that it was a walk-out. There is no doubt that it was and only those who stand to benefit from it would fail to see it for what it is. It is not so much because one of those from the minority was signaling their leader to bang the gavel when the deliberations started to heat up. It was their refusal to return to the session hall when the majority stood pat that gave their script away. So much for that then. Which lead...
Post a Comment
Read more