King Abdullah, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, will grace the third Global Competitiveness Forum (GSF) here Jan. 25-27, which will bring together 100 of the world's most talented and experienced leaders in business, finance, politics and sport for a discussion on responsible and competitive ways forward so as to overcome the global economic crisis. Announcing the event, Amr Al-Dabbagh, Governor of Saudi Arabia General Investment Authority (SAGIA), said all indications are that the Kingdom is the least affected by the global economic crisis because of its conservative economic policies. “Owing to this, SAGIA is optimistic about the flow of foreign capital into the Kingdom because of its safe financial and investment environment.” “Saudi Arabia with a sound financial base will be at the forefront of driving sustainable, responsible and competitive economic growth,” Dabbagh said. This year's speakers at GSF – organized by SAGIA and surpassed only by the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland in terms of size and speaker line-up – include Mary Robinson, former Irish president; Thomas Enders, UN High Commissioner on Human Rights; and Michael Phelps, the US swimmer who bagged a record eight Olympic golds in 2008. This year's theme is “responsible competitiveness,” covering such topics as the 2009 global outlook and expected risks, entrepreneurship in the current crisis, energy and the environment. Previous speakers at GSF – founded in 2006 at the instructions of King Abdullah – have included Dr. Mahatir Mohamad, former Malaysian prime minister; Carlos Ghosn, president and CEO of Renault and Nissan; Michael Porter, Harvard Business School professor; and Shinzo Abe, former Japanese prime minister. Dabbagh said that SAGIA is coordinating with the Ministry of Justice and relevant agencies for the establishment of commercial courts that will greatly help improve Saudi Arabia's competitiveness and investment environment. Saudi Arabia has set a goal for the Kingdom to become one of the top 10 most competitive countries in the world by 2010. Dabbagh, however, said that the global economic meltdown would make it difficult to improve the Kingdom's global competitiveness in 2009, though “it won't affect the progress we are making in improving the country's economic and investment environment.” Abdul Mohsien Al-Badr, CEO of GCF-2009, was also present at the press conference, noted that GCF 2008 “comes at a time when Saudi Arabia has just announced a record budget surplus for 2008 and record spending for 2009, largely due to major infrastructure projects and increased spending on education and health care.” The King Khalid Competitiveness Award will be announced at GSF-2009, besides awards for the 100 fastest growing Saudi companies and the Michel Porter Prize for Creative Strategies.
