RIYADH: The Fifth International Competitiveness Forum is scheduled to take place Saturday in Riyadh under the patronage of Prince Naif Bin Abdul Aziz, Second Deputy Premier and Minister of Interior on behalf of King Abdullah, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques. The four-day forum is being organized by the General Investment Authority under the motto “Innovation and Creativity for Sustainable Competitiveness”. Over 116 foreign and Saudi experts, including former heads of state, academics and well-known economists are set to address the forum. The participants are expected to launch a number of initiatives aiming to upgrade the competitiveness of the private and public sectors and individuals in the Kingdom. The initiatives cover the King Khaled Prize for Responsible Competitiveness, the Youth Most Competitive Initiative and the Saudi Oxford Program for Advanced Leadership, besides honoring the 100 largest companies in the Kingdom. In the 25 sessions, the participants will tackle in their papers issues related to innovation, competitiveness and modern developments in the global economy. They will also discuss the role of investment in the international economy, latest developments in the field of energy and the most significant challenges facing the world's economy in 2011. The forum takes place in the wake of the Kingdom being ranked 11 in Ease of Doing Business, a yearly evaluation by the World Bank assessing the competitiveness of the investment and business environment in 183 countries, besides being rated 18, the top among Arab countries, in attracting direct foreign and Arab investments. The forum's motto reflects the need for a vision to deal with the changes in the international economic environment and international competitiveness to raise creative opinions for the post world economic crisis. On the first day the participants are set to discuss issues on innovation and creativity for sustainable competitiveness and creativity in health and education, the need for investment and creative solutions for future challenges and sustainable energy. The second day is devoted to a future vision for the energy sector, international risks in 2011, green innovation, heavy industries, food security and the future of ideas, innovation and cities. The participants in the forum include Ali Bin Ibrahim Al-Naimi, Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources; Dr. Hashim Yamani, President of King Abdullah City for Atomic Energy; Adel Fakeih, Minister of Labor; and Dr. Muhammad Al-Jassir, Governor of the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency. Also in attendance will be James Wilkerson, former chairman of the World Bank and Lubna Bint Khaled Al-Gasimi, Minister of Foreign Commerce in the United Arab Emirates. Meanwhile, Prince Saud Bin Khaled Al-Faisal, Deputy Governor for the General Investment Authority for Investment Affairs and Chairman of the National Competitiveness Center, said the honoring of the 100 investing companies takes place for the second time as one of the major activities of the forum. He said the criterion applied this year to honor these companies is their contribution to the employment of Saudi job seekers and th increase in the size of their internal purchases.
