THE 8TH JEDDAH ECONOMIC FORUM CONCLUDED ITS DELIBERATIONS HERE TONIGHT, ALLOCATING ITS LAST SESSION TO DISCUSS PRIVATIZATION. A NUMBER OF DIGNITARIES, INCLUDING MALAYSIA'S DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER DATU SIRRI MOHAMMED NAJIB ABDUL RAZAK; ENG. KHALID AL-MILHEM, DIRECTOR GENERAL OF SAUDI ARABIAN AIRLINES AND EX-PRESIDENT OF POLAND LECH WALESA, ADDRESSED THE CLOSING SESSION. ABDUL RAZAK GAVE AN ACCOUNT OF HIS COUNTRY'S EXPERIMENT IN THE FIELD OF PRIVATIZATION SINCE 1991, INCLUDING THE SECTORS OF WATER, ELECTRICITY, VEHICLES AND VESSELS MANUFACTURING, AND TRANSPORTATION, CONFIRMING THAT THIS SAVED SOME $ 2.5 BILLION FOR THE STATE'S BUDGET. AL-MILHEM TOLD THE GATHERING THAT SAUDIA HAS TAKEN PRACTICAL STEPS TO PRIVATIZE NINE AFFILIATE COMPANIES AND RESTRUCTURE AND RECONSIDER A NUMBER OF ASPECTS ASSOCIATED TO THE PROCESS OF PRIVATIZATION. HE DISCLOSED THAT SAUDIA IS LOOKING FORWARD TO STRATEGIC PARTNERS IN THE NEXT PHASE OF ITS DEVELOPMENT. POLAND'S FORMER PRESIDENT LECH WALESA SAID THE VALUES ROOTED IN THE SAUDI SOCIETY WOULD DEFINITELY CONSTITUTE A SOLID GROUND FOR GLOBALIZATION, DESCRIBING JEDDAH ECONOMIC FORUM AS UNIQUE IN THE WAY IT TACKLES MATTERS AND PROCEEDS FROM MUCH TALKING TO DEEDS.
