Newsletter - Oct. 3-9, 2005 - #129

In This Issue

News In Depth

Ramadan

"The holy month of Ramadan is a special month. For over one billion Muslims worldwide, it is a time of inner reflection and devotion to God. It is the month of 
fasting. Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic calendar. The start of the month is based on a combination of physical sightings of the moon and astronomical calculations. The Islamic calendar itself is a lunar calendar, and months begin when the first crescent of a new moon is sighted. This year, Ramadan officially began on the evening of October 4, 2005 although some locations did not sight the new moon crescent until October 5th.."

Item of Interest

The Fight Against Extremism and the Search for Peace
Prince Saud Al Faisal

"The last time I addressed the members of this council, my subject was the United States of America and Saudi Arabia, a relationship threatened by misconceptions.. ..I said at the time that sooner or later both our countries will have to abandon recrimination and concentrate on what can be done to restore our healthy relationship and deal with a common threat. I am pleased to report today that both Saudi Arabia and the United States have taken effective, meaningful measures to do just that. President Bush and the then Crown Prince Abdullah had an opportunity to enhance and deepen that relationship in their fruitful and productive summit at Crawford last April. I am personally in constant contact with the honorable Secretary of State, Dr. Rice, to pursue our discussions to establish a strategic dialogue between us.."

Item of Interest

In Pursuit of Understanding: 
Karen Hughes 
in Saudi Arabia

"..Her visit to Jeddah which lasted approximately 24 hours was full of meetings. The American delegation which consisted of both diplomats and media persons had its initial encounter with Saudis at the home of the prominent Saudi scholar, Dr. Sami Angawi. Each Tuesday he hosts a meeting — known in Arabic as “makiya” — at which issues of interest and concern are discussed.."

Interview

On Relations and Reforms:
A Conversation with Usamah al Kurdi

"I am happy to report that since we spoke a year ago, reform in Saudi Arabia is continuing. The emphasis on job creation and business opportunities is continuing. The attention to social reforms, addressing social ills, is continuing. Overall, I can say reform in Saudi Arabia is healthy and proceeding.. ..I am very optimistic we are going in the right direction. I believe we are complementing the world community by cooperating together, and I am glad to see the results of the Crawford Summit are actually taking place.."

Interview

Transition and Reform:
A Conversation with Ghassan al Sulaiman

"..King Abdullah has been the de facto ruler for the last eight years. So his accession to the throne is a very positive thing, in that he will be able to further energize the initiatives he started as the Crown Prince.. ..It was also very positive that it was a smooth transition. It showed there is consensus among the Royal Family about the different leadership positions in the government and that King Abdullah will be getting the support that he needs from the influential members of the Royal Family. It also puts to rest all the rumors we heard about potential conflict in the Royal Family.."

Quarterly Production Summary

SUSRIS & SAF Quarterly Summary

A Review of July-September 2005 Production

In the News

Pentagon Tells Congress Of Possible $2B Military Sales To Saudis
”The Pentagon has notified the US Congress of possible military sales to Saudi Arabia valued at more than $2 billion, if all options are exercised. The proposed sales include a laundry list of armored personnel carriers, command vehicles, water cannons, a variety of trucks, ambulances, ammunition and assault rifles for the Saudi Arabian National Guard. The Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA), which notified Congress of the possible sale, valued that proposed sale at up to $918 million..”

Saudi Arabia Tops Region In Creating Positive Investment Climate
”Saudi Arabia was ranked the first country in the Arab world in terms of creating a positive climate to attract investments, according to the annual report known as Doing Business in 2006. The report, which was issued by the International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group, centered on the competitiveness of countries worldwide in attracting investments. The report evaluates the environment of commercial transactions in 155 countries. Saudi Arabia bested all Arab countries and was ranked first in the Arab world..”

IEF To Inaugurate Permanent Secretariat-General Building In Saudi Arabia
”The International Energy Forum (IEF) will inaugurate its permanent Secretariat-General building in Saudi Arabia on November 19, said Tuesday Saudi Arabia's Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources Ali Al-Naimi..”

Saudi Arabia Cuts US Crude Prices
”Saudi Arabia's state oil concern is cutting the prices it will charge US buyers. Traders say the move by Aramco brings the prices of the main grades of crude loaded in November between 45 cents and one dollar, 30 cents a barrel below October contract levels. While Aramco has cut US crude prices for four straight months, traders at American refiners don't expect the deeper discounts to lead to significantly higher shipments of Saudi crude..”

Cabinet OKs Anti-Terror Pact
”The Council of Ministers [Oct 3] endorsed the GCC anti-terrorism pact, which urges member states to adopt integrated measures to combat terror and support one another at times of danger.. ..The anti-terror deal demands from the member countries to take precautionary measures in order to prevent using their territory as a stage for planning, organizing, and carrying out terrorist attacks. The six Gulf countries have pledged to activate their security and monitoring systems and beef up security on their borders and entry points in order to prevent infiltrators and encroachers..”

Saudi Arabia Ranks 77th Among 177 Countries In Terms Of HDI: UNDP
”Saudi Arabia ranks 77th among 177 countries in the world in terms of Human Development Index (HDI) and 44th by GDP per capita which stands at $13,226, according to Dr El Mustafa Benlamlih, United Nations resident coordinator and UNDP resident representative, who released the summary of the Human Development Report 2005 in Riyadh recently. The kingdom's HDI, measured in terms of life span, healthy life, level of literacy, and standard of living stood at 0.772, below Qatar's HDI of 0.849, which was ranked first among the Arab countries. Yemen was the worst performer with an HDI of 0.489..”

Saudi Arabia, EU Reach Accord on Gas Prices
”Saudi Arabia and the European Union have reached an agreement on gas prices, paving the way for Riyadh's accession to the World Trade Organization by the end of this year, press reports said. The two sides reached a deal after high-level talks between Commerce and Industry Minister Dr. Hashem Yamani and Ambassador Bernard Savage, chief of the delegation of the European Commission in Saudi Arabia. The Saudi-EU agreement allows WTO's working team to prepare a final report on the Kingdom's accession to the body in order to present it to the WTO General Council, the organization's highest executive body, which is scheduled to meet on Oct. 19-20 in Geneva..”

New Rights Body Gets More Powers
”The Saudi Council of Ministers has granted the Human Rights Commission the right to rectify and review all systems in the Kingdom related to human rights. According to Al-Watan, the Human Rights Commission will also have the right to access prisons and detention centers at any time and submit reports to the prime minister without the need to obtain official permission. The newspaper also said the commission would be active 60 days from the date of inception..”

International Honor for Saudi Woman
”For the first time, a young Saudi security system consultant Manal Al-Sharif was awarded an “Ethical Hacking” certificate from the International Council of E-Commerce Consultants in America.. ..Twenty-six years old Al-Sharif has worked in the field of electronic safety at Aramco for three years after graduating from King Abdul Aziz University with a bachelor’s degree in computer science..”

Lawyers Seek to Form Own Association
”Lawyers have asked to be treated the same as journalists and writers. They want their own society to be established along the lines of the Saudi Journalists Association and the Writers League. The request was first presented two years ago to the Justice Ministry. At a meeting with Justice Minister Dr. Abdullah Al-Asheikh at Okaz Arabic newspaper last week, a group of lawyers repeated their request to form a society..”

SAGIA Seeks US Investment
”The governor of Saudi Arabian General Investment Authority, Amr Al-Dabbagh, concluded a tour of the US where he met with policy and decision makers, high-level executives and attended economic and investment related forums. SAGIA’s goal is to promote the inward flow of investments into four sectors: Energy, transportation, knowledge-based industries and information and communication technology. The governor’s meetings covered a wide-range of industries reflecting SAGIA’s areas of interest..”

Kingdom to Take Part in G-20 Meeting
”Saudi Arabia will participate in a G-20 meeting of finance ministers and central bank governors on Oct. 15 in the Chinese town of Xianghe, near Beijing. The Kingdom will be represented by Dr. Ibrahim Al-Assaf, minister of finance, and Hamad Al-Sayari, governor of Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency (SAMA)..”

Iraq's Jabor Regrets Attack On Saudi Arabia-Paper
”Iraq's outspoken Shi'ite interior minister was quoted on [Oct 9] as saying he hoped his verbal onslaught on Saudi Arabia would be a "passing summer cloud" and that ties between the two countries would remain strong. Bayan Jabor had last week referred to Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal as a "bedouin riding camel" and slammed the kingdom's treatment of women and minority Shi'ites, forcing the Iraqi foreign minister to apologize to Saudi Arabia..”

Iraq Blasts Saudi Arabia For Anti-Shi'ite Remarks
“Iraq's interior minister lashed out on [Oct 1] at a Saudi minister who voiced worries about growing Iranian influence and Shi'ite power, saying Iraq would not be lectured by ‘some Bedouin riding a camel’.. .. "We will not allow anyone to interfere in our internal issues, regardless of their political status,’ Iraqi Interior Minister ‘ayan Jabor, a member of the Shi'ite Islamist SCIRI party, retorted during a news conference in Amman..”

New Labor Law OK’d
”The Council of Ministers [Sep 26] approved the new labor law that allows women to work in all fields that suit their nature and raises the rate of Saudization of jobs in companies to 75 percent.. ..The law, however, allows the labor minister to reduce this rate temporarily if there is a shortage of qualified hands required by companies..”

Saudi Business Mission to Visit Paris
”A 16-member Saudi business delegation will take part in Pollutec 2005 exhibition being held in Paris from Nov. 29-Dec. 2.. ..Pollutec is claimed to be the “world’s No. 1” international exhibition for environment equipments and technologies, and with its 1,400 exhibitors from worldwide it is considered vital for water, energy, waste and recycling, noise, analyze-measurement-monitoring, and risk prevention and management sectors..”

US Appreciates Saudi Efforts to Combat Terror
”Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah and Crown Prince Sultan held talks with Karen Hughes, US undersecretary for public diplomacy and a close aide to US President George W. Bush, [Sep 27]. Hughes commended Saudi Arabia’s efforts in fighting terrorism. ‘I salute the Kingdom’s efforts to work with us to combat terrorism,’..

U.S. Official Criticizes Female Driving Ban In Saudi Arabia
”Undersecretary of State Karen Hughes questioned [Sep 27] the Saudi ban on driving by women, telling a crowd of several hundred Saudi women, covered head to toe in black clothing, that it had negatively shaped the image of Saudi society in the United States.. ..Hughes hastened to add that Saudi society must change at its own pace and according to its own traditions..”

Saudi Arabia Says Oil Reserves Have Doubled
”With Peak Oil fears now quite common place, the Saudis and Exxon Mobil are double-teaming on reassurance. From the UK Independent: ‘..Saudi oil minister Ali al-Naimi said, at an industry conference in Johannesburg, that the country would soon almost double its ‘proven’ reserve base, while Exxon's president, Rex Tillerson, spoke of 3 trillion or more barrels of oil that are yet to be recovered..”

US Concern At Saudi 'Hate Works'
”A US envoy on a tour of the Middle East has told a group of Saudi editors that "hate" literature from Saudi extremists has been found in American mosques. Karen Hughes told the gathering the US wanted to see Saudis speak out more strongly against religious extremism. But she said the US appreciated Saudi efforts in the fight against extremists and the sacrifices made by its forces..”

Oil Prices Lower In Asian Trading After Saudi Pledge To Raise Output
”Oil prices weakened further in Asian trading after Saudi Arabia pledged to supply the market with more crude if necessary, dealers said. Prices were also affected by the imminent release of weekly US crude inventories due later today, with the market expecting a build-up in stocks, they said..”

Canada-Saudi Forum on the Cards
”Canada-Saudi forum in Canada is now a possibility with both countries working on the modalities to organize it in 2006.. ..Aside from the increase in business interests between the two countries, there has been an increase of Saudi tourists to Canada, most particularly Saudi students going for English, medical and other studies, Bell said and referred to the recent agreement with Saudi Basic Industries Corporation that will be sending 50 students selected from among best high school graduates to Canada for a year’s English training and then four years of graduation in engineering and business..”

Saudi Arabia: A Whole New Drill
”Saudi Arabia's image as master of the oil patch has been taking a beating of late. For months global markets have fretted that the Saudis can't or won't produce enough oil to keep a lid on soaring prices.. ..Yet, little noticed by the outside world, the Saudis are making some bold moves. In recent months, Saudi Aramco, the national oil company, has been rapidly inking deals with drilling rig operators and oil field contractors. Some 70 drilling rigs are now operating in the kingdom, up from 55 in 2004 and about 20 in the mid-1990s..”

Saudi Arabia's $35 Billion Construction Boom
”Saudi Arabia comprises the largest construction market in the whole of the Middle East with multi-billion dollar projects under way and many more in the planning stage by both the public and private sectors.. ..In total, current infrastructure and public sector building programmes are valued at some $35 billion. Plans include building 600 new factories, schools, doubling desalination capacity, increasing electrical generation and distribution. Some 600,000 new homes are to be built in the next four years with many more planned..”

World Bank's Doing Business In 2006 Report: Saudi Arabia's Global Competitiveness Rank At 38, Up 29 Notches
”The International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group, issued its annual report, known as Doing Business in 2006, on the competitiveness of countries worldwide in attracting investments. The report evaluates the environment of commercial transactions in 155 countries. Saudi Arabia bested all Arab countries and was ranked 1st in the Arab World followed by Kuwait..”

Arab League Panel On Iraq To Meet In Jeddah
”Eight Arab foreign ministers will meet here [Oct 2] to work out a strategy to support Iraq and review Arab League preparations to monitor a referendum on the Iraqi Constitution as well as Iraq’s general elections. The eight-member Arab ministerial committee on Iraq, which was set up on Sept. 8, is expected to discuss the worsening security situation in the war-torn country. The committee is holding its first meeting..”

Saudi Arabia Funds Colombo Trauma Unit
”Saudi Arabia is funding a neurosurgical unit at the Colombo National Hospital. Sri Lankan Health Minister Nimal Siripala De Silva laid the foundation for the SR40 million, nine-story building.. ..The unit will have a total floor area of 11,000 sq. meters. It will house three operation theaters, a 12-bed intensive care unit (ICU), a 20-bed high dependency unit (HDU), a spinal injury unit, a neurosurgical unit and a ward complex for 150 patients. The unit will be provided with advanced medical equipment such as MRI and CT scanners..

Saudi Arabia Denies Secret Arms Talks With Britain
” Saudi Arabia [Oct 2] denied press reports that it was engaged in secret negotiations with Britain over a $70 billion arms deal. However, it pointed out that London had expressed its desire to sell Typhoon fighter planes to the Kingdom.. ..The spokesman said the Saudi government did not ask for or receive any official or unofficial offer from the British side on this subject..”

Britain 'Agreed In Secret' To Expel Saudis During £40bn Arms Talks
”Downing Street made no attempt yesterday to dispute the Guardian's disclosure that Saudi Arabia has asked for three favors from Tony Blair and defense secretary John Reid, who have been to Riyadh trying to sell BAE Systems' Typhoon fighter planes. The Saudis want the London-based dissidents expelled, British Airways to resume flights to Riyadh, and a major corruption investigation into BAE and a Saudi prince to be dropped..”

Saudi Arabia Expected To Navigate With Galileo
”Saudi Arabia could become the latest country to join the European Union's Galileo satellite navigation system, rival to the US global positioning system. The European commission has signaled approval of Saudi membership, though it needs the approval of EU member states. The system is expected to be operable in 2008..”

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