G1 panel discusses Saudi Vision 2030, Japan’s role in Kingdom’s reforms

Jeddah - Yasmine El Tohamy - TOKYO: As Japan’s reliance on the Middle East for crude oil imports increased over the years, peace and stability in the region is deemed essential for Japan. 

With an almost 100 percent reliance on oil from the Middle East, Faisal J. Abbas, Editor-in-Chief of Arab News, told a Japan panel on Monday: “Our security is your security.”

At the GLOBIS annual G1 forum, Abbas said after the war in Ukraine, “Japan’s dependency on oil from the region has increased.”

Saudi Arabia’s social and economic reforms, in line with its Vision 2023, have also created far more business investment opportunities for companies that want to form joint ventures.

Abbas said that for a secure Japanese and global economy, there has to a be a “stable Middle East.”

“An integral part of Vision 2030 is that we cannot succeed alone,” he added.

Abbas attributed the success of the Kingdom’s transformation to its “reliable allies,” adding that Japan has been an instrumental partner. 

“When the vision was imagined, Japan was one of the few countries in the world that were looked at as a role model,” he said. 

The Editor-in-Chief added: “Japan is a country that is very much proud of its past and its tradition. Yet it’s managed to embrace modernity, embrace technology, be a pioneer in technology without allowing modernity to really ruin or corrupt the spirit or the culture or the traditions of the Japanese.”

In Saudi Arabia, Abbas said, that was a “very good model to follow, because we are also very much proud of our past, very much proud of our traditions, very much proud of our culture.” 

“We are now one of the world’s leaders in many technological aspects in modernity. But we don’t want to let go of our heritage, history and culture,” he explained. 

Also speaking at the panel was Saudi Telecom Company’s (STC) Leaders School General Manager Sarah Alofaysan, who told the audience corporate education played a huge role in the Kingdom’s transformation. 

“One of the key factors that drive the transformation is the rapid advancement of technology,” she said. “The drive for innovation and entrepreneurship also plays a very crucial role when it comes to these transformations.”

The rising tensions currently ongoing between Israel and Palestine opened up the floor at the panel for further discussion on the future of the region. 

Koichi Nakagawa, Research Director and Chief Consultant at the Mitsubishi Research Institute Middle East, expressed concerns on how Saudi Arabia will navigate peace and stability in the region, when it seems very divided at the moment. 

Abbas responded by explaining that the Saudi position “has been clear for 20 years now.”

“The Arab Peace Initiative that was announced in the Arab League in 2002, in Beirut, showed that the Saudi hand has been extended to Israel since then, on the condition of the recognition of a Palestinian state,” he said. 

Maha Yahya, a Director at Malcolm H. Kerr Carnegie Middle East Center, told the panel that conflict is the “main obstacle” in the face of the region’s transformation. 

“Today, we have a region that is moving at two different speeds. The Gulf countries have reaped the benefit of the increase in oil prices,” she said. “Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 is perhaps the most emblematic of this kind economic transformation.”

Yahya explained that a recent study showed “that female participation in the labor force has a direct impact on economic growth.”

“Saudi Arabia’s GDP is estimated to grow by 3.5 percent over the next few years, because of the increase in female labor force participation,” she added. 

When it came to Japan’s position on the recent Iran-Saudi agreement, mediated by China, former diplomat Nakagawa said Japan was in a “bad scenario.”

He explained that Japan needs to keep a close eye on further developments in the region, especially since Japan heavily relies on the Middle East for its oil imports. 

“If we have to compete with China, that’s a very bad scenario for us. So, we have to avoid this,” Nakagawa told a panel titled ‘Transformative Leadership and Inclusive Growth in the Recent Middle East’ at the conference. 

The former diplomat added that developments between Saudi Arabia and Israel could be “mediated by China,” especially as Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas visited Beijing back in June. “We have to watch China’s political intentions carefully.”

As the panel concluded, Arab News’ Editor-in-Chief said Saudi Arabia has surpassed many of its targets for Saudi Vision 2030. “For example, woman inclusion in the workforce, which was set for 30 percent by 2030. Last year, I’m proud to say we surpassed that target at 36 percent.”

“We’ve also surpassed the target for tourists, despite the pandemic. The new target is 150 million visitors a year, for a country that didn’t really have a tourism economy only a few a few years ago,” he told the panel at G1. “According to IPSOS, we are the second happiest citizens in the world, which is all remarkable.”

“I think we’re already looking at Vision 2040,” he added. 

The panel was moderated by Toru Takahashi, President and CEO of GLOBIS Europe BV. The discussion sought to delve into the pivotal role of transformative leadership in championing diversity, inclusion and inclusive growth in the Middle East.

With recent events in the region, panelists felt it was important to include the political climate into the conversation as it plays a huge role in the future not only on a domestic scale, but also on a global one.