Developing the petrochemical industry, understanding the vision of officials and diversifying national revenues are the three main concerns of Majed Abdullah Al-Hogail, CEO of Rafal Real Estate Development Co. Ltd. The Kingdom should find three major competitive advantages and start developing them, Al-Hogail told Diana Al-Jassem of Arab News in an exclusive interview. He emphasizes that the Kingdom should reduce its reliance on oil and must sustain its natural resources in an effective manner. He also stresses the need for increasing the contribution of SMEs to the GDP. Al-Hogail asserts that speedy solutions are needed for tackling the housing problem in order to improve Saudi lifestyles and promote social stability.
Rapid change
What, in your opinion, are changes that would have major impact on the lives of Saudi nationals within the coming 20 years?
A major change could be deploying the latest technologies effectively to improve our businesses, communications and lifestyle. Also professionalism will be a key change, especially in education and industry. Both men and women need to be given fair opportunities in such fields. The household size and lifestyle will also change our behavior and priorities in life. Ten years ago, we used to have big families living in small houses, but now families have become smaller with different priorities. I think we will have more utilization of the Kingdom’s development plans. We now have new universities, and economic plans, providing more opportunities for job creation.
Role of leadership
What do you think of the leadership role regarding organizations in the Kingdom? What are the factors/reasons for their current state?
Every leader in public and private sectors should follow unique strategies, which can be summarized as “Know what to do and how to do it” and the second one “No vision focus or vision without action or poor implementation.” The role of leaders is to know the strategy and execution. Unfortunately, we still don’t have the right focus. We still tend to be distractive in our goals, thus not focused toward our vision. This poses a major obstacle to business in our country.
Challenging tasks
What are the most difficult decisions that need to be applied in the Kingdom within the coming 20 years?
Improving government agencies’ efficiency is a major challenge. There is a need to achieve high standards. Improving the bylaws will help match the speed of realizing Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah’s vision. This includes major bylaws in various ministries. Creating more jobs is also a challenge. We still don’t understand the vision of Saudization. For example, we don’t know the reason for the new SR 2,400 tax on expatriates. We don’t know the vision of launching the Hafiz program. Do they want to create jobs only? What type of jobs they want to develop for Saudi nationals? We want to know the strategy and reasons behind official decisions. If the current minister leaves, we will be having a new minister and have to start from sub-zero. This is because we don’t have a clear vision.
Sustainable development
What goals would you set regarding the Kingdom’s development? And how would these goals be achievable through your current position?
My view is to develop three main competitive advantages and focus on some of these advantages to develop it. For example, if we develop petrochemical industries, mining and logistics, we can focus on adding value to them and be number one. Then we have to set a clear strategy, and how to execute our plans and develop their main advantages.
Creative project
Give me an example of the most creative project that you wish to set up in the Kingdom.
I think we have to try our best to benefit from key natural resources and further streamline the supply chain (upstream and downstream). In my field, I hope to develop the concept of residential houses to be effective and implemented in our country.
KSA in three words
What three words would you use to describe the Kingdom within the coming 20 years and why (these 3 chosen words)?
I hope to see the Kingdom a country of abundant natural resources. When we say mining, we know we have to create a secondary market in the world, a supply chain, and anything that belongs to natural resources. We need to look for ways to be creative and to benefit from natural resources.
Regarding the Kingdom’s officials, what characteristics do you think are important for such individuals?
What we need to have is an obsession for creativity, a discipline for continued development and focus on the ultimate instinct of desire. These are the main characteristics that we need in Saudi officials.
Human rights
How can we all improve human rights in Saudi Arabia? What are your expectations regarding human rights practices in the coming 20 years?
The best way forward for human rights protection is to implement our regional behavior correctly. What we have, as many scholars said, is religion without behavior. In the West, they have behavior but they don’t have religion.
Biggest challenge
What is the biggest challenge facing the Kingdom today?
The main challenges facing the Kingdom in the coming 20 years are the political changes in the neighboring countries.
Prominent economic activities
What are the most prominent economic activities in the Kingdom? What are the neglected sectors that need to be developed?
We talk about industries such as petrochemicals and we have to continue developing this sector. Development of housing is needed, because housing is a key to stability. It is the major requirement of each individual. Finally, we need to improve health and education and with massive budgetary provisions we can have mega projects in these two sectors. Talking about neglected sectors, we still have individual behavior not institutional behavior.
Housing growth
There is a huge demand for housing in the Kingdom because of rising young population. The government has also put emphasis on this sector as it has allocated SR250 billion in this budget for housing. Do you believe housing sector needs much more attention from the government and private sectors?
The government has made a very good start. We have a gap for which we need SR 500 billion to fill it. Actually, the gap is expected to be wider very soon, considering the supply capacity and demographic demand. The amount needed to meet the demand is more than SR 1 trillion and the private sector appetite is limited due to limited support from official agencies. We need to encourage the private sector to develop more initiatives. Otherwise, we will continue to have the problem.
Role of SMEs
There is a need to boost small and medium enterprises (SME) in the Kingdom as it creates various jobs. What role do SMEs have in the Kingdom’s economic development?
As of today, SMEs do not represent more than 20 percent of the GDP. Their role has to expand further. SMEs help to create an efficient economic cycle and then all will benefit from it. In emerging countries, SMEs represent a big part of the GDP. However, the advantage is that more SMEs will lead to a good economic cycle in the country.
Knowledge hunt
Education is always a priority for the Saudi government. What changes do you envisage in the education system to fit Saudi youth in a knowledge-based economy?
Seeking education abroad will definitely help adopt new techniques and develop discipline plus infrastructure to improve it continuously.
Fair opportunities
How do you see Saudi women’s contribution in the labor, social and political areas in the coming 20 years? And what’s required in order for Saudi women to actualize your future vision?
Five years ago, opportunities for women were limited. Now, we see women working strongly in different sectors such as sales, marketing and financial service. There is a change in their belief, family style of thinking and acceptance. I expect women will position themselves better due to the level of education, knowledge and commitment. We will see their strong presence and contribution in many industries. Women should accept changes, raise their level of education and compete in the market.
Saudi media
What measures and standards are yet to be (and must be) applied to Saudi media and what are your expectations in the next 20 years?
I am in favor of involving experts in the work of media. Media is not any longer about news; rather it is about society, education, health and economy. In our local media, we still are missing experts. Nobody can now control the freedom, where things are coming very fast. I believe that the quality of media that people are sharing is competitive and should be given a fresh look.
What impact will social media have regarding change in the Kingdom?
The impact of special media will be very strong. Unfortunately it is not healthy due to limited knowledge to assess and value it. Since 1997, we have been studying in the MBA that online media will dominate and be profitable while traditional media will die. However, there is a change but till now social media has not received approval, except Google.
Learning from the past
What are the three or four mistakes that have been repeated in the Kingdom during the past two decades and how we could eliminate these mistakes in order to develop the Kingdom?
The three main mistakes can be summarized through the previous questions. Therefore, I would highlight the following:
— Short-term vision of ministers
— No single point for many industries
— Long time taken for decision making
Message to youth
Given that the youth make up the majority of the Saudi population, what message would you want conveyed to them? And what else would you say to the rest of the population?
We do have many opportunities so I like you to follow two things from some world leaders:
• Change before you have to. (Jack Welch)
• First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win. (Gandhi)
Al-Hogail’s top goals
Major change required in:
-Household size and style, technology, professionalism
Role of leaders should be:
-Know what to do and how to do it
Difficult decisions relate to:
-Improving government agencies’ capability
-Improving the bylaws to match the vision of King Abdullah
-Create more jobs
Major goals to develop the Kingdom:
-Develop 3 main competitive advantages
-To have a vision
-Set a clear strategy and how to execute it
Creative projects he thinks:
-Benefit from the main natural resources
-Create the supply chain (upstream & downstream)
He describes the Kingdom:
-Abundant natural resources
Officials need characteristics like:
-Creative tension
-Discipline for continued development
-Focus on ultimate instinct — desire
Biggest challenge he says:
-Political changes in neighboring countries
Role of SMEs :
-Increase the contribution of SMEs in GDP
Three mistakes he listed:
-Short-term vision of ministers
-No single point for many industries
-Time taken for decision making