Videos from the National Council on U.S.-Arab Relations’ 22nd Annual Arab-U.S. Policymakers Conference, held October 22-23, 2013 in Washington, DC, are available to watch on YouTube. There are also podcasts from the conference available through iTunes and FeedBurner, as well as transcripts on the Council’s website.
EU-GCC automotive conference focuses on technology transfer
Source: Arab News (Read full story)
The EU-GCC Invest Project held its first automotive conference attended by some 100 local industry leaders and decision-makers at the capital’s Al-Khozama Hotel on Sunday. “We hope that the local automotive industry benefits from this conference. European Union (EU) companies have a worldwide reputation as technology providers,” Andreas Hergenroether, AHK Saudi Arabia delegate, said as he welcomed the participants. AHK Saudi Arabia organized the conference … Hergenroether added that despite the decrease in foreign direct investments (FDI) to the GCC, Saudi Arabia is still the biggest recipient of FDIs in the MENA region in 2012 according to the 2013 World Investment Report by UNCTAD. “This underlines Saudi Arabia as a global investment destination and testifies to the foreign companies’ trust in the economic growth and stability of the Kingdom,” he said. He noted that the main EU investors in the Kingdom were France with an FDI volume of $3.821 billion, followed by Germany $2,138 billion and the UK $1,575 billion.
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Prosperous present, bright future: Oman marks 43rd National Day
Source: Middle East Online (Read full story)
On November 18, 2013, the Omani people celebrate the 43rd National Day… Over the years of the Sultanate’s modern renaissance, the Omani citizen constituted the cornerstone and the moving force for progress at all levels. The deep confidence and Royal patronage of His Majesty Sultan Qaboos formed a solid foundation for national development. This was made clear in His Majesty’s speech on November 12, 2012 on the occasion of opening of the 5th Term of Majlis Oman (Council of Oman), which coincided with the opening of the Majlis’s building in the area of Al Bustan, Muscat. On this occasion, His Majesty said, “We have directed the government to focus in its future development plans on social development (particularly in aspects related to citizens’ livelihood) by providing more employment opportunities and training programmes, and by raising the volume of productivity. We are following up the steps being taken and this matter will also be the focus of attention of the Supreme Council for Planning.”
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Below is a remarks as delivered transcript from a public affairs briefing held November 13, 2013, in Washington, DC, sponsored by the National Council on U.S.-Arab Relations, the U.S.-GCC Corporate Cooperation Committee, and Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP.
Featured Specialists:
Ambassador (Ret.) Ford Fraker – Former U.S. Ambassador to Saudi Arabia (April 2007 – April 2009); and Senior Advisor, Trinity Group Limited.
Ambassador (Ret.) James Smith – Former U.S. Ambassador to Saudi Arabia (September 2009 – September 2013); and Senior Counselor, The Cohen Group.
Moderator:
Dr. John Duke Anthony – Founding President and CEO, National Council on U.S.-Arab Relations.
[Remarks as delivered]
[Amb. Ford Fraker] Well, Dr. Anthony as usual has done an excellent job sort of laying the ground work, and I think one of the advantages of an audience like this is that Ambassador Smith and I get to talk to people who know a lot about what we’re talking about, and that facilitates the discussion. What we don’t – certainly what I don’t do well at is when I have to stand up in front of a group and put a map of Europe on the wall and then go from Europe down to Saudi Arabia, so it’s always nice to speak to an informed audience.
Ambassador (Ret.) Ford M. Fraker at the National Council on U.S.-Arab Relations’ 2013 Arab-U.S. Policymakers Conference. Photo: NCUSAR.
So what I want to do is to spend some time talking about the relationship and some of the key elements in the relationship that are relevant today for what’s going on so that we can get into the question and answer portion of this rapidly. I think it’s at that point that everybody gets fully engaged and we don’t have to stand up here droning on about various issues that may or may not be important to you. It’s always better to turn it over to the audience and find out what’s on their minds.
So a brief word about the relationship. When I arrived as Ambassador to Saudi Arabia in 2007, up to that point I’d been a banker in the Middle East for almost 35 years. So Saudi Arabia was a country I knew well. It allowed me to transition into the position relatively easily from a number of standpoints. But one of the things that surprised me when I came was I had no real understanding of the breadth and depth of the relationship between Saudi Arabia and the U.S.
Obviously the high points – energy for security – all the basic issues that drive the relationship, yes I knew about them. But the number of programs that exist encompassing Departments of Commerce, Energy, Education – a whole raft of programs that extend throughout the relationship, not just broadly, but deeply as I said, I think has a lot to do with why this relationship is as strong and as fundamentally sound as it is.
Some of you have heard me refer to the relationship as a marriage. All good marriages are based on sound fundamentals, strategic interests, shared values. I think that’s very much the case in Saudi Arabia. And in every strong marriage, good marriage, there are the ups and downs, but as long as those fundamentals are in place, and as I said as long as you have this depth and breadth of relationships operating then the relationship takes over.
I’m convinced one of the reasons the relationship did not break immediately after 9/11 was because of this, because of the number of programs that were in place, because of the day-to-day interaction was embedded. So from that standpoint I don’t worry about this relationship breaking. For sure, as I said, there will be ups and downs, and we’re in a particularly difficult period right now and there are a number of factors for that, and I wanted to mention two.
Saudi Arabia wins U.N. Human Rights Council seat
Source: Al Arabiya (Read full story)
Saudi Arabia on Tuesday won a seat at the Human Rights Council, the U.N.’s highest rights monitoring body, Al Arabiya correspondent reported. China, Russia and Cuba were also elected, raising speculations of potential battles over human right issues to be considered by the council in the future. The U.N. General Assembly elected 14 seats on the 47-member council which is taking on increased diplomatic importance because of Syria’s civil war and other conflicts. The council, which will start work on Jan. 1, will be one of the most polarized since it was created in 2006.
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Iran talks must broaden: UAE
Source: Khaleej Times (Read full story)
The GCC stance has become more unified on Egypt, and the world community should come forward to helping the Arab republic emerge from the current situation, UAE Foreign Minister Shaikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, has said. “We denounce any act of terrorism against Egyptian police, army and people at large,” Shaikh Abdullah said on Wednesday at a joint Press conference with German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle, held here at the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Egypt is very important to the region, Shaikh Abdullah said, citing its “political and religious weight” and noting that “all political forces in Egypt should join hands together for the stability of the country. He also urged the friends of Egypt all over the world to help speed up the negotiations between the IMF, World Bank with Egypt, and play their role in the development of Egypt.
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Op-Ed: America’s oil finds will not sideline Saudi Arabia
Source: Financial Times (Read full story)
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America’s daily oil production was the highest in the world from the time oil was discovered until the mid-1970s. Average US production over that time period was about 10m barrels per day – far higher than the output of Saudi Arabia. However, that level of daily oil production did not garner the US any significant influence in international oil markets. Nor did it improve US energy security – it continued to import oil in ever greater quantities. Moreover, output levels have since declined. Even if the US reaches 11m b/d of crude oil production in 2014, this will not make it the leading producer. The Saudi output is about 11.7m b/d, and poised to increase. Further, Saudi Arabia has a ready spare capacity of an additional 2m b/d of crude. In addition, Saudi Arabia is by far the largest exporter of crude oil and products of crude oil. Its average exports for most of 2013 are about 7.6m b/d; the US exported just 1.9m b/d.
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Rashed expects Assembly will be dissolved shortly
Source: Kuwait Times (Read full story)
MP Ali Al-Rashed reiterated yesterday his expectations that the National Assembly is likely to be dissolved very soon, even before the highly anticipated ruling of the constitutional court. Rashed, the speaker of the previous Assembly which was scrapped by the constitutional court in June, said, “I still expect the Assembly to be scrapped and could even be dissolved (by the Amir) before the constitutional court ruling” on Dec 23. The lawmaker’s comments came after a veiled criticism by head of the constitutional court Youssef Al-Mutawa to similar statements made by him on Sunday in which he said he expected the court to scrap the July parliamentary elections because of flawed procedures.
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