GCF 2009 Global Competitiveness Forum Riyadh

Under the patronage of his majesty
The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques,
King Abdullah Ibn Abdul Azziz Al-Saud.
Chairman of the Supreme Economic Council
HRH Prince Sultan Ibn Abdul Azziz Al-Saud
The Crown Prince, Deputy Prime Minister
Minister of Defense and Aviation, and Inspector General
Deputy Chairman of the Supreme Economic Council
www.gcf.org.sa

Competitiveness
Global Competitiveness Forum 2009 Table of Contents
6
10
16
26
44
48
58
68
76
80
Governor’s Foreword Note
GCF2009 Topics
Executive Summary
Sessions Highlights
Open Letter to G20 Leaders
SAGIA Initiatives
GCF2009 Speakers
GCF2009 Sponsors
Hosts
GCF2009 Gallery
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Governor’s Forward Note
Dear Readers!
The third annual Global Competitiveness
Forum convened as the global economy
appeared to veer off a precipice in January
2009.
The conference’s theme, Responsible
Competitiveness, provided in many
ways a summary of and a productive
approach to the challenges ahead.
How could irresponsible management have
led world markets—in credit, in housing, in
energy, in crops—so badly astray, and how
can responsibility be restored? How can
governments and the private sector tackle
multi-faceted economic problems without
stalling the drive for competitiveness and
shared prosperity?
To answer these questions, the world’s
premier gathering on competitiveness
challenges was joined by eminent
leaders, executives, and intellectuals with
visionary perspectives on how to link the
competitiveness agenda with a far-reaching
concern with sustainability and social
responsibility. The insights that emerged
were too powerful, and the problems
addressed too urgent, to limit to the
delegates to GCF 2009.
Instead, the proceedings of the Global
Competitiveness Forum informed an
open letter to the leaders of the G20
member nations calling for an aggressive,
coordinated response to the economic
downturn.
While the GCF is global in scope, it
has special relevance for us here in
Saudi Arabia. In defining the country’s
development strategy, the Supreme
Economic Council, through the Saudi
Arabian General Investment Authority,
has committed to achieving world-
class economic competitiveness as the
platform for enhanced prosperity.
We call it the 10x10 mission: to
transform Saudi Arabia into one of
the world’s Top 10 most competitive
economies by 2010.
As such, we have had much to learn
from and contribute to the Global
Competitiveness Forum.
H.E.AmrAl-Dabbagh,
Governor,SaudiArabianGeneralInvestmentAuthority
Chairman,NationalCompetitivenessCenter
Chairman,GlobalCompetitivenessForum
In the past year, Saudi Arabia has achieved
impressive successes in its quest for
competitiveness.
This year, the Kingdom stands among
the Top 20 countries in the World Bank/
IFC’s Doing Business report, which
measures the quality of the regulatory
environment.
Meanwhile, the opening of the economy
to private and foreign investors has led to
a surge in investment.
FDI inflows exceeded US$24 billion in
2007, making Saudi Arabia the largest
FDI recipient in the Middle East and
North Africa.
Aided by this improved business
environment, new ventures are attracting
growing investment, providing greater
employment, and contributing to
economic diversification.
The competitive economy we are creating
today will enrich the lives of Saudi Arabia’s
young, hopeful population tomorrow.
This is the vision of His Majesty King
Abdullah, Custodian of the Two Holy
Mosques, which guides our efforts.
Yet to deliver sustainable prosperity,
capitalism must be attentive to the social,
environmental, political, and financial
systems with which it is intertwined.
This imperative is reinforced daily by the
diverse stresses placed on the foundations
of the world’s economic well-being.
Achieving responsible competitiveness
has never been a more pressing challenge,
for Saudi Arabia and other forward-
looking nations.
For this reason I am proud to present
the proceedings of the 2009 Global
Competitiveness Forum, and invite you to
join next year’s conversation.
King Abdullah Bin AbdulAziz,
Custodian of theTwo Holy Mosques, which guides our efforts.
Thisis
thevision
ofHisMajesty
This year, the Kingdom stands among the Top 20 countries
in the World Bank/IFC’s Doing Business report, which measures the quality of the regulatory environment.
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GCF2009 Topics
At a time when financial distress
has erased trillions of dollars in
asset value worldwide, the Global
Competitiveness Forum’s first
speech by Carlos Ghosn, Nissan’s
President and CEO, declared: Sunday
Jan. 25th, 2009
For nations as for enterprises,
competitiveness is about delivering
world-class value to customers, to
employees, and to investors.
Yet as the economic crisis unfolding
in early 2009 makes clear, to be
meaningful, competition must proceed
on responsible footing. In areas
ranging from carbon to credit, GCF
panelists agreed that apparently
profitable global markets have often
destroyed rather than created value,
and explored ways of restoring their
contribution to shared prosperity.
The Global Competitiveness Forum
brings together politicians, business
leaders, academics, and technical
experts from many fields and from
many countries around the globe to
discuss competitiveness.
During the Third Global
Competitiveness Forum in Riyadh,
participants probed for pathways to
responsible competitiveness in areas
ranging from markets to mindsets.
“value creation is what
responsible competitiveness
is all about.”
Announcement of King Khalid Award for Responsible
Competitiveness
Speech: Carlos Ghosn President and CEO, Nissan Motors
Panel Discussion: Responsible Competitiveness
Panel Discussion: Energy Evolution
Panel Discussion: Thought for Food
Panel Discussion: Arts: Painting Crisis in a New Light
Speech: Mary Robinson 7th President of Ireland
Official Opening Ceremony, under the patronage of His
Majesty, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah
Bin Abdulaziz
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GCF2009 Topics
Tuesday
Jan. 27th, 2009
Monday
Jan. 26th, 2009
Panel Discussion: Paradigm Realign: Changing Mindsets,
Changing Attitudes
Panel Discussion: Real Estate: Building Competitive Communities
Panel Discussion: The Crisis: How Deep? How Long? How to Get Out?
Speech: Tun Dr. Mahathir bin Mohamad, 4th Prime Minister of
Malaysia
Speech: Michael Porter UniversityProfessor,HarvardBusinessSchool
Panel Discussion: Talent: The DNA of 21st Century Leader
Speech: Shinzo Abe 90th Prime Minister of Japan
Panel Discussion: Reach for Gold: Competitveness at its Best
Announcement of Porter Prize Saudi Fast Growth 100 Winners
Panel Discussion: Next Stop: Innovation Station
Panel Discussion: Recession Entrepreneurship: How toThrive in an
Economic Downturn
Panel Discussion: What Next!? Global Risks 2009
Gala Dinner at Royal Al-Atheriyah Farm, for an evening of Saudi
Cultural Heritage and Cuisine
Speech: JeanChrétien 20th Prime Minister of Canada
Panel Discussion: GoverningCompetitively
Panel Discussion: Infrastructure:BuildingOurWayOut
Panel Discussion: Too Hot to Handle? Sustaining the Green Agenda
Presentation on Special Olympics:
Timothy P. Shriver, Chairman Special Olympics Inc.

industry and internship programs for
disadvantaged youth in the services
industry are just two examples.
Programs like these bring companies’
core competencies to bear on social
challenges.
They disproportionately strengthen
company brands because of their close
link to the companies’activities.
Yet 2008 saw crises unfold across
a stunning array of markets—real
estate, credit, energy, food—
with dramatic impacts on the
environment, top financial
institutions, and the world’s poor.
When markets failed, irresponsible
public-sector responses have often
exacerbated the problems. In a panic
over food securities, countries withheld
fertilizer and crops from world markets,
causing acute shortages among net
importers.
Financial bailouts have violated norms
of“national treatment”by denying aid to
domestic subsidiaries of foreign
companies. As unemployment rises
globally, protectionist pressures could
overwhelm commitments to open trade.
While cutthroat, beggar-thy-neighbor
competition may satisfy the short-term
ambitions of individual players, the
Global Competitiveness Forum aspires to
promote positive-sum competition:
what former Malaysian Prime Minister
Tun Dr. Mahathir bin Mohammed calls
“prosper-thy-neighbor.”
Responsible competitiveness must build
shared prosperity; it must be sustainable;
it must comprehensively serve relevant
stakeholders; and it must create value.
It may seem odd to call for a renewed
commitment to responsible
“Companies that are
not responsible will not
remain competitive
nationally or globally.”
Responsible Competitiveness
Unpacking the Concept
“Responsible” should be a redundant modifier in discussions
of competitiveness. Former U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman
Alan Greenspan has said that his biggest policy mistake
was to presume that private companies are better equipped
than government regulators to responsibly manage their
businesses. “At the end of the day, value creation is what
responsible competitiveness is all about, even during
a season of crisis.”
competitiveness at a time when
economic challenges strain
corporate balance sheets and public
budgets. Of course, every firm’s top
concern will be to maintain free cash
flow.
Yet responsible business practices
will play an unavoidable role in
overcoming the current crisis, and the
havoc that irresponsibility has wrought
demonstrates how wrong-headed it is
to view“responsibility”as the luxury of
firms flush with earnings.
One problem with this view is that it
conflates responsibility with pleasing
everyone.
All firms will have to make painful
cuts during economic downturns,
but if these are made transparently
and fairly, by a management
team with a strong record of
accountability, decisions can be
implemented quickly with lower
impact on organizational cohesion
and morale.
Too often corporate social
responsibility (CSR) amounts to using
company funds to finance chief
executives’favorite causes.
This narrow application misses
important ways in which responsible
competitiveness can generate
sustainable social impacts and
shareholder value.
Any firm will face numerous
opportunities to align CSR initiatives
with its strategy: environmentally
friendly packaging in the goods
Finally, unlike giveaways to unrelated
causes, they repay a portion of their
cost in operational enhancements.
The spectacle of companies around
the world lining up for bailout funds
powerfully illustrates how important
societal good will is to firms’survival.
Companies that deliver mutual
benefits to shareholders and society
build valuable political capital, while
irresponsible firms find themselves in a
more precarious position.
GCF2009 Topics
Tomas Enders, CEO, Airbus SAS
William Amelio, CEO Lenovo

bureaucracy and a more effective
welfare state can play in fostering the
private sector.Most important among these,
new and relatively unregulated
financial products gave investors and
institutions huge exposure to risks
they poorly understood.
The world’s largest banks gambled
their survival in a bid for higher short-
term profitability, starting a crippling
chain reaction as counterparty risks
spread through the financial system.
The resulting dramatic declines in
employment, industrial production, and
equity prices have placed policymakers
and businesses alike in a bind: obliged to
take bold actions to overcome the crisis
while avoiding a costly overreaction.
One of the constraints facing
governments is the sheer scale of
anticipated stimulus requirements.
The amounts involved—nearly US$1
trillion in the United States alone—leave
“Governments need to send a clear signal
that they want to stick to free markets. This
would give hope for recovery”
little budgetary room for additional
government initiatives. As such,
policymakers must link economic
recovery with investments towards
pressing longer-term objectives,
including developing talent,
innovation, and green infrastructure,
or risk squandering a large
opportunity and delaying these
priorities indefinitely.
Yet such programs must also have
immediate economic impact to head
off further deterioration.
Companies, too, must balance
short-term cash flow requirements
with long-term strategic
objectives.
While investments will be reduced,
firms can find adaptive ways to push
their research and development
programs forward. For example,
automobile manufactures can join
technology partnerships to economize
on research funding. A structural
feature of the world’s current
economic problems is borrowing-
fuelled overconsumption in
the United States, matched by
inadequate domestic demand
in the cash-rich economies of East
Asia.
A far-sighted approach to managing
the crisis must bridge short-term
aggregate demand without simply
perpetuating the dependence of
global economic activity on the
unsustainable appetites of the
American consumer. Approaching the
next generation of financial regulations
will also involve a balancing act.
GCF2009 Topics
Overcoming the Crisis
Restoring National Competitiveness
Regulators must seek ways to preclude
the possibility of another system-
wide meltdown without handcuffing
financial innovation.
Nations must manage more
responsibly their exposure to global
financial volatility without stepping
down the destructive path of
protectionism.
Even as we enter a brave new
world of economic difficulty, the
fundamental determinants of
national competitiveness remain
unchanged.
Asset values rise and fall,
but the underlying drivers
of prosperity continue to be:
innovative technology, supportive
infrastructure, efficient operations,
and, above all, talented people.
Governments should not lose sight of
their long-term development goals
or in the role that a more efficient
Cheap credit and rising asset values are the basic ingredients
of any investment bubble, but the housing bonanza that
precipitated the current recession bore unprecedented
features.
Thomas Russo, Lehman Brothers Saleh Kamel, Islamic Banks
Al Jaseer, SAMA Governor

Achieving a competitive agriculture
sector through unsustainable water
policies is similarly short-sighted:
it exports precious water resources
at below-market prices instead of
conserving it for high-value industrial
and domestic applications.
Recent crises related to energy
markets, crop prices, and carbon
emissions powerfully illustrate the
need for policymakers to be more
attentive to Earth’s limits when
implementing resource management
policy.
Ecological sustainability is increasingly recognized by the business
community as a crucial pillar of responsible competitiveness.
Straining national resources in pursuit of short-term economic
gain is not only irresponsible, but also uncompetitive. The
damage done to agriculture, tourism, and public health by
unregulated industrial pollution exceeds by far the contribution to
manufacturers’ bottom line.
Yet the current recession risks
delivering a series of blows to
the sustainability agenda:
As important as the challenge of
conservation, business leaders and
policymakers must also ensure the
provision of valuable goods and services
to consumers. Rural communities suffer
as much from a lack of electricity as from
the creeping effects of climate change.
Energy security is not just about
developing green energy; it also
requires stabilizing short-run pricing
and encouraging adequate levels of
investment in existing infrastructure.
Periodic collapses in the price of food
and energy starve these sectors of
capital, setting the stage for
shortages and soaring prices when
demand pressures and speculative
forces emerge.
The world’s most basic resource
sectors—water, energy, crops—can
only operate in a rational pricing
environment, where suppliers
are given incentives to invest but
also to conserve and enhance
efficiency. This is why pricing water
withdrawals and carbon emissions
are so important, and why volatility
in consumer prices is so damaging to
human welfare.
With proper price incentives, existing
technology and infrastructure can
be deployed to meet the challenges
of scarcity and climate change while
providing abundant supply.
However, additional research and
development are required to transform
the way transportation is fueled, homes
are lit, and industry is powered, and
switching costs continue to deter mass
commercialization of green technology.
Governments thus have a major role to
play in encouraging the emergence of
a green resource infrastructure.
• Slackening demand for food and
energy have softened pricing and
hindered the attractiveness of new,
sustainable investment in these sectors
• The collapse of corporate credit markets
have forced firms to slash capital
expenditures in an effort to preserve
cash balances
• Severe short-term economic pain
has overshadowed climate change
and forced governments to prioritize
massive, near-term economic
stimulus over green investment
programs
While governments must necessarily
open cash and resource spigots to
revive economic growth, leaders must
not allow the sustainability agenda to
languish indefinitely.
Establishing a responsible foundation
for economic competitiveness requires
a comprehensive reconstruction
of global infrastructure, extending
from power generation to water
management, and these investments
will not take place without the full
commitment of the world’s leaders.
In planning the infrastructure and the
cities of the future, leaders should
also look beyond the environment and
the goals of food and energy security,
towards the sustainable betterment of
the human condition.
The sprawling, congested megalopolis
and energy-intensive transportation
of the twentieth century will have to
be replaced by more a more efficient
architecture. This transformation holds
as much promise for changing lives as it
does for environmental sustainability.
GCF2009 Topics
Greening Competitiveness
Food, Energy, Climate Change
“We need not only
acknowledge the
competitive advantage
of going green, but also
need to understand the
cost of not going green.”
Paulo Sacroni, CEO, Eni S.p.A.
Peter Brabeck-Letmathe, Nestlé SA Magatte Marchand, Adina for Life

supportive social structures.
The“race to the bottom”so
often cited as a characteristic of
competition among labor markets
must be turned upside-down.
In fact, countries break the poverty
barrier only when labor rights, health
standards, and other incentives enable
employees to aspire to ownership,
Development economics teaches
that capital accumulation faces
diminishing returns:
it is only innovation which can sustain
rapid increases in prosperity over the
long run. Innovation is about using
existing resources in new and valuable
Economic growth in the twentieth century will be driven by
human capital. While the current scarcity of credit and strains
on natural resources draw attention to their importance to world
economic activity, it is human ingenuity which will allow national
economies to cope with resource constraints.
ways, enabling innovative economies to
multiply their returns on investment.
Often the promise of new technology is
overstated, and bubbles can form around
new product markets. Nevertheless,
societies where investors believe in and
extend credit to innovators thrive, even
if individual investments go sour.
New frontiers in innovation today
include nano- and bio-technology,
artificial intelligence, and green energy.
Fostering innovation involves managing
“We need to show
younger generations
how to think and how to
challenge the status quo
in a productive way.”
it responsibly, including rethinking
how research is funded, shared,
and commercialized. It involves
ensuring that small, innovative
companies can access capital
to commercialize their ideas, an
especially salient challenge in the
current financial environment.
Less developed economies are
increasingly seen as potential
incubators of innovation. War-torn
Asia was home to the world’s poorest
economies in the middle of the
twentieth century; today Tokyo, Taipei,
and Bangalore play host to the world’s
most innovative companies.
Government support can go a long
way towards kick-starting innovation
in developing countries, but building
effective education systems is the
most valuable, and most difficult, step.
Incubating workers and leaders equal
to tomorrow’s challenges is a multi-
faceted challenge. In addition to drilling
students on science and mathematics,
education systems must place renewed
emphasis on subjects less commonly
acknowledged as contributors to human
capital development. For example,
advancing prosperity has brought with
it a global epidemic of cardiovascular
diseases that could be prevented
through routine diet and athletics.
Physical education not only
maintains a healthy workforce, it also
builds the teamwork and leadership
skills critical to effective citizenship
and increasingly demanded by the
world’s multinational corporations.
Similarly, the arts have often been
treated as a non-core discipline, yet
they, too, are crucial to unlocking
the creativity that gives the world’s
leading companies and cities their
competitive advantage.
However, mobilizing citizens for
competitiveness requires more than
developing skills.
Individuals must be able to access
opportunities, be rewarded for hard
work and innovation, and enjoy
and students to become innovators
and marketers. This is particularly the
case for women, whose entry into the
workforce in the twentieth century has
done so much to advance prosperity,
dignity, and human
development. Empowering human
achievement remains a problem in
developed as well as poorer societies. In
North America, Canada’s relatively higher
unemployment rate is matched by the
United States’extraordinary incarceration
rate. Debates continue to rage about
the proper scope of the modern
welfare state, but it is undeniable that
social structures play as much of a
role as individual choices in driving
socioeconomic outcomes.
The language of individual responsibility,
appropriate to judicial procedures,
should not be misconstrued as absolving
corporations and the government of
their own crucial responsibility for
shaping competitive economies.
GCF2009 Topics
Michael Porter, Harvard University
Michael Phelps, 14x Olympic Gold Medalist Carl Lewis, 9x Olympic Gold Medalist
Mobilizing Citizens
Humans as the Engine
of Competitiveness

The first speech by Carlos Ghosn noted
the scale of current global economic
challenges. Drawing from his experience
at Nissan, Mr. Ghosn advised businesses
to expand free cash flow while seeking
adaptive ways to maintain adequate
investments in their core businesses. He
emphasized the importance of visionary
leadership to re-orient mindsets
towards constructive action. He noted
that economic difficulty highlights the
importance of responsible business in
delivering mutual benefits to companies
and society, and in building the goodwill
“... the importance of responsible
business in delivering mutual benefits
to companies and society”
Speech:
Summary of
Proceedings:
Day 1
January 25, 2009
Panel Discussion:
The first panel investigated the
issue of responsibility in corporate
leadership to as it pertains to the
origins of and the recovery from the
world’s current economic challenges.
The panelists agreed that companies
with consistently responsible
practices face lower transaction costs
and will navigate the slowdown more
nimbly, and with a lower impact on
morale.
The second panel addressed the
challenge that companies and nations
face in sustainably meeting their
energy needs going forward.
The panelists agreed that volatility in
energy prices is hurting suppliers and
consumers alike, and interfering with
needed investments.
Responsible
Competitiveness
Panel Discussion:
The Energy
Evolution
necessary to sustain a company
through hardship. The automobile
industry is a bellwether of global
economic trends ranging from the
health of consumer demand to the
mass commercialization of green
technology. As a result, Mr. Ghosn’s
remarks and his engagement with
the audience stepped beyond
generalities to address the concrete
challenges facing industries as they
seek to overcome the economic
crisis and embrace responsible
competitiveness.
Carlos
GhosnPresident and CEO, Nissan Motors
Therefore, irresponsibility is
unsustainable and erodes
competitiveness factors. A critical
challenge is inculcating responsibility
in the next generation of business
leaders, and responsibility should
play a proactive role in shaping
corporate strategies. In response to
audience members’questions, the
panelists acknowledged that trust is a
crucial and underestimated driver of
competitiveness, and enthusiastically
noted ways in which business leaders
could rebuild trust through ethical
business practices in general and a
focus on sustainability in particular.
Speakers: Carlos Ghosn , Nissan Co.
Angel Cabrera, Thunderbird School
Mhd. Hassan Omran, Etisalat,
William Amelio, Lenovo, Thomas Enders, Airbus SAS.
Rajat Gupta, McKinsey Company
They further concluded that an initial
focus on efficiency on the consumption
side would be critical given the
time required to commercialize
alternative energy sources. While
technology will hold the key to
the green economy of the future,
achieving energy sustainability will
also require a transformation of global
energy use. During QA the panelists
acknowledged that the energy industry
had faced accentuated volatility as a
result of irresponsible competition:
in particular between oil and gas
producers and oil and gas services firms.
The panel concluded with an unusually
blunt assessment, for a group of energy
industry leaders, of the eventual need
to transition to renewable solar energy.
Executive Summary Report

Mary Robinson’s speech urged
businesses to overcome the notional
tradeoff between competitiveness and
social responsibility, particularly with
respect to human rights.
She noted the risk that the economic
slowdown would plunge millions
more into poverty, and argued that
governments can meet the challenge
of expanding employment while
protecting basic labor rights.
“... The risk that the economic
slowdown would plunge millions
more into poverty.”
Speech:
The third panel investigated the origins
of the recent food crisis, including
changes in consumer demand, weak
agricultural productivity, erosion of
arable lands, and water scarcity. Many
of these issues are durable, and have
forced countries to seriously address
food security. Two areas requiring
creative action is food subsidies and
The fourth panel discussed the
strong links between the arts and
economic competitiveness, with
special emphasis on the potential
for development of the Arab world’s
rich artistic heritage.
The panelists concluded that the
arts deserve expanded support
because they are a public good and
because of their positive economic
role in areas ranging from technical
innovation to tourism.
Successful societies are
characterized by attractive, thriving
artistic cultures that drive creativity.
Speakers: James Barrett, Redefining Progress
Michael Kaiser, JFK Center
Jim Clifton, , The Gallup Organization
Saeb Eigner, Lonworld
Panel Discussion: Panel Discussion:
Mary
Robinson7th President of Ireland
Thoughts
For Food
Arts:
Painting Crisis in a New Light
trade barriers, where governments
frequently fail to contribute to the
global food supply. Opportunities
to increase the supply of food exist
across the value chain, and include
local responses such as better water
management policies, to more
efficient supply chains.
The discussion was punctuated by
heated debate over the tradeoff
between the quantity and quality
of crops produced, focusing on
the future relevance of the organic
food industry in an environment of
potential future scarcity.
Speakers: Peter Brabeck-Letmathe, Nestlé SA.
Magatte Wade-Marchand, Adina for Life
Thorleif Enger, Yara International
Abdullah Zainal, Minister of Commerce and Industry
Saudi Arabia
She celebrated the progress of
women’s rights across the world and
concluded that female participation
in the workforce could deliver positive
benefits to both women and to
national economic development.
Audience questions included an
energetic discussion of the potential
role of women in Arab economies,
and also highlighted the difficult
position of human rights enjoyed by
immigrants.

Summary of
Proceedings:
Day 2
January 26, 2009
The first speech by Jean Chrétien drew
from his experience as former Prime
Minister of Canada to emphasize the
importance of confidence and hope in
overcoming economic difficulty.
Mr. Chrétien suggested that, if
managed effectively, the current
recession may prove milder than
expected. Crucial to economic recovery
is responsible leadership: Mr. Chrétien
emphasized the need to balance job
“... if managed effectively, the current
recession may prove
milder than expected.”
Speech:
Jean
Chrétien20th Prime Minister of Canada
Panel Discussion:
The first panel produced a range of
policy initiatives for strengthening
competitiveness. Responding
to the current economic crisis
requires focused efforts to protect
global financial infrastructure,
but government should avoid
overreacting in ways that hamper
commercial activity, particularly small
and medium enterprises. The panel
pointed out the basic challenge that
Panel Discussion:
The panel on infrastructure left no
doubt of its importance for economic
competitiveness. Overcoming
infrastructure bottlenecks is critical
for basic development and formation
of advanced clusters, even as human
capital and other assets take on
more prominence in discussions of
competitiveness.
Ideally a set of“shovel-ready”projects
should be readied to provide a
platform for stimulus spending, with
both general-purpose and specialized
infrastructure to drive productivity-
enhancing linkages. One of the panel’s
most provocative insights related to
the way that infrastructure could have
unexpected spillovers into other sectors.
For example, Frankfurt’s status as an air
traffic hub lent it a competitive
Governing
Competitively
Infrastructure:
Building OurWay Out
creation and social goals with fiscal
responsibility, and to carry out
policies transparently and fairly.
Mr. Chrétien suggested that the
ultimate solution to volatility in
energy prices is to diversify the
economy by investing in talent and
innovation, and in particular to be
more open to immigration.
governments face in keeping up with
innovations in the marketplace. Both
over-regulation and de-regulation result
in a misalignment between the needs
of the economy and the activities of
bureaucracy.
In addition to calibrated short-term
stimulus and regulation, the panel
argued that governments should
prioritize far-sighted investments in
talent, innovation and infrastructure.
Globally, maintaining open markets
and international cooperation on
issues such as are essential to avoiding
a major step back.
Speakers: Stéphane Garelli, World Competitiveness
Center. Robert Huggins, Centre for International
Competitiveness. Deborah L. Wince-Smith, Council
on Competitiveness. Aron Cramer, Business for Social
Responsibility
advantage in financial services. These
linkages and spillover effects are
difficult to anticipate but go to the
heart of how infrastructure can enhance
competitiveness.
Speakers: Wilhelm Bender, Fraport AG
Timothy P. Flynn, , KPMG
Mark Fuller, Monitor Group
Wolfgang Lehmacher, Geopost International SAS

The presentation over lunch
described the social impact
of Special Olympics, and its
organization’s successful strategy to
brand itself and achieve global scale.
A Special Olympian from Lebanon
addressed the gathering along with
the Chairman.
More than any other event
during the GCF, this presentation
showed delegates how visionary
organizations could make vast
improvements to the human
condition while thriving financially.
Timothy
P. ShriverChairman, Special Olympics Inc.
The panel concluded that innovation
is the core underlying driver of
enhanced prosperity, even though
innovative sectors (such as the“dot-
coms”of the 1990s) can be prone to
boom-bust cycles. New frontiers in
innovation were discussed, including
Climate change, the panelists agreed,
is a challenge“too hot not to handle.”
Building a green economy requires
action on a number of fronts. In the
short-term, existing technologies,
better management and additional
RD should be deployed to reduce
Too Hot to Handle?
Sustaining the Green Agenda
Next Stop:
Innovation Station
Lunch Program, Presentation: Panel Discussion:Panel Discussion:
energy waste. Longer-term, investments
should seek to replace wasteful legacy
technologies and adopt green electricity
generation.
Regulations and incentives to reduce
carbon emissions will be crucial to
facilitating this transformation.
Audience members responded with
particular enthusiasm to the insight
that the bulk of energy savings could
be found in unexpected places: such as
improved parcel industry management,
or reduced waste in concrete production.
Speakers: Gary Winnick, Pacific Capital Group, Inc.
Christine Whitman,EPA Administrator
Jorgen Clausen, Danfoss A/S
Jean-Pascal Tricoire, Schneider Electric
Herbert-Michael Zapf, International Post Corporation
nano- and bio-technology, artificial
intelligence, and green energy. The
panelists concluded that fostering
innovation involves managing it
responsibly, including rethinking
how research is funded, shared, and
commercialized.
One of the surprising conclusions
of the panel was that innovation
is possible even in poor countries,
with government support. Panelists
pointed out that many of today’s
wealthiest and most inventive
countries were among the world’s
poorest just a few decades ago.
Speakers: Dr. Michio Kaku, Professor. George Gruner,
Unidym. Peer Schatz, Qiagen. Kap-Soo Suh, KTIC
Philip Campbell, Nature Magazine. Nandan Nilekani,
Infosys Technologies Ltd. Mohammed Al-Suwaiyel,
King Abdulaziz City.

The panel on entrepreneurship
discussed a large variety of promising
means by which start-ups can
succeed in a depressed economy.
One model with renewed validity
is micro-finance, which creates
social and economic value in poor
countries while providing excellent
returns. Lack of access to capital is a
crucial obstacle to small businesses,
and could be addressed through
regulation. This panel enjoyed a
particularly vigorous exchange with
the audience, given the challenges
faced by many GCF delegates in
growing their businesses amid the
worsening economic situation.
Speakers: Lori Bonn, Bonnventures. Stanley
Bergman, Henry Schein, Inc. Sulaiman Al–Hamdan,
NAS Holding. Maria Otero, ACCION Intl. Adolfo Urso,
Undersecretary of International Trade, Italy
The day’s final panel struck a gloomy
note, elaborating numerous risks
affecting the economy. Asset values
continue to fall; continued tight liquidity
is shuttering profitable businesses;
consequent rising unemployment is
driving social unrest; new government
regulations and protectionism
could hamper the recovery. The
panelists noted that the speed and
composition of stimulus packages are
critical variables that could decisively
affect the direction of economic
developments. To complicate matters
further, geopolitical risk factors abound,
particularly in South Asia. While the
entire panel agreed that the current
economic crisis represents a turning
point in many areas of economic
activity, such as banking, a heated debate
proceeded over whether it calls into
What Next!?
Global Risks 2009
Recession
Entrepreneurship:
question the fundamental structure
of world trade and finance, namely,
continued debt-driven consumption
in the United States.
Speakers: Shumeet Banerji, Booz CO.
Peter Schwartz, Global Business Network
Peter Schiff, Euro Pacific Capital
Peter Kurer, UBS AG
James Quigley, Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu

Summary of
Proceedings:
Day 3
January 27, 2009
The first speech by Professor Michael
Porter argued that the current economic
crisis indicates the need to redouble
Michael
PorterUniversity Professor, Harvard Business School
The panel on talent echoed Professor
Porter’s conclusion that human capital
is more important than physical assets
to driving development.
Speech: Panel Discussion:
Talent:
The DNA of 21st Century Leaders
Panel Discussion:
The panel on athletics noted the
potential for sports to forge the
human building blocks of economic
competitiveness.
Reach for Gold?
Competitiveness at its Best
efforts to build competitiveness
through reform and investment.
Following a detailed assessment of
Saudi Arabia’s improving economic
competitiveness, Professor Porter
urged further commitment to
workforce development, reform
of capital markets and corporate
governance, improved legal
processes, and cluster development.
Professor Porter noted in response
to an audience members’question
that women are playing a prominent
role in rising Saudi Arabian
entrepreneurship, just as they have
in other countries.
While acknowledging the crucial role
of hard skills in talent development,
the panelists noted the importance
of“soft”leadership skills in driving
organizational success.
Audience members challenged the
panel to explain why educational
institutions are failing to deliver
talent in many countries with
declining educational standards, and
panelists debated how organizations,
governments, and corporations could
step in to fill their talent gaps.
Speakers: John Drzik, Oliver Wyman
Mohamed H. Al-Mady, (SABIC)
Dr. Lalit Johri,Oxford Saïd Business School
Hans-Paul Buerkner, BCG
Sports teach their participants how to
set goals, maintain discipline, achieve
victory and recover from setbacks,
respect rules, and collaborate in teams;
they also reduce preventable diseases
through healthy physical activity.
Foreshadowing the themes of the
next panel, the participants noted that
participation in sports can transform
the mindsets of impoverished and
disabled individuals who might
otherwise lose confidence in
themselves and their futures.
Speakers: Michael Phelps, 14x Olympic Gold Medalist
Carl Lewis, 9x Olympic Gold Medalist
Johann Koss,Right to Play
Timothy Shriver, Special Olympics Inc.

The panel discussed ways to build
improved outlooks and ethics into
organizational structures. The panel
issued a provocative challenge
to enterprises: corporate social
responsibility should complement
corporate strategies, rather than fund
executive pet projects.
Meanwhile, the participants urged
governments to build policy
frameworks that address the
environmental causes of anti-social
behaviors, rather than exclusively
individualizing responsibility. For
example, while behaviors such as
drug use and corruption are highly
degrading to the social fabric, simply
punishing offenders fails to address
the root causes and may actually
create additional sociological
sprawl, and the environmental
impact of construction. Despite the
crisis in real estate markets, panelists
urged investors and policymakers to
consider investing in the cities of the
future to advance the green agenda,
quality of life, and financial returns.
One of the most exciting messages
of the panel was the need to radically
rethink the way physical communities
are built, and the impact these
changes will have on ecological
footprints and the nature of social life.
Speakers: Geoff Cape, Evergreen
Barry Sternlicht, Starwood Capital Group
Fahd Al-Rasheed, EEC
David Rosenberg, Hycrete Inc.
Tom Searle, CH2M Hill
Real Estate:
Building Competitive Communities
Paradigm Realign:
Changing Mindsets, Changing Attitudes
challenges by incarcerating functional
citizens.
Speakers: Bill Achtmeyer, the Parthenon Group
Philippe Bourgois,University of Pennsylvania
Michael Powell, Powell’s Books
Andre Bergen,KBC Group
Huguette Labelle, Transparency International
The speech by former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe discussed how the
impact of risky lending in the United States was transmitted through the global
financial system, and called for a re-balancing of the relationship between
industrial and financial capital.
Highlighting Japan’s own challenges and its commitment to global economic
recovery efforts, he suggested that promoting innovation could position nations
for future competitiveness while financial difficulties are overcome.
“... Promoting innovation could
position nations for future
competitiveness while financial
difficulties are overcome..”
Speech:
Shinzo
Abe90th Prime Minister of Japan
The panel on real estate emphasized
the importance of sustainability to
competitiveness, touching on the
urbanization of poorer economies,

The panel on the economic crisis traced
the origins of the financial meltdown
and explored the role of stimulus
and regulation in setting economies
on sounder footing. Panelists
suggested regulations could reduce
irresponsible risk-taking, but feared
that a policy overreaction could
hamper financial innovation. They
suggested that stimulus should be
productivity-enhancing, but warned
that the economy risked further
downward spiral unless stimulus
came decisively and quickly.
Among the most fascinating aspects
of the panel was a debate over the
extent to which the current economic
crisis calls for a radical rethinking of
the basic features of modern financial
transactions.
The Crisis:
How Deep? How Long? How to Get Out?
The final speech focused on Malaysia’s
experience as a rapidly industrializing
country. Tun Dr. Mahathir urged all
nations to“prosper thy neighbor”by
promoting shared prosperity—for
example, by exchanging investment and
knowhow worldwide while investing
in domestic infrastructure tailored to a
country’s economic development goals.
He also noted the important challenges
of corruption and tapping the economic
“a strong note of humility, how
Malaysian students were sent abroad
to adopt international best practices.”
Panel Discussion: Speech:
Tun Dr. Mahathir
bin Mohammed4th Prime Minister of Malaysia
Speakers: Muhammad Al-Jasser,SAMA
Stephen Pagliuca, Bain Capital Partners LLC
Henry Kravis, Kohlberg Kravis Roberts Co.
Sheikh Saleh Kamel, General Council for Islamic Banks
Thomas Russo, Lehman Brothers
potential of women. Tun Dr.
Mahathir sounded a strong note of
humility, describing how Malaysian
students were sent abroad to adopt
international best practices, and
how Malaysia has sought to avoid a
rigid socioeconomic ideology as it
pursued prosperity for its people.

The Global Competitiveness Forum,
the premier international platform
for discussing competitiveness
challenges, convened in Riyadh, Saudi
Arabia on January 25 – 27, 2009.
We represent business, academia,
the public sector and civil society,
and share an interest in economic
competitiveness as a driver of
sustainable prosperity worldwide.
The GCF proceedings produced
sharp and compelling insights about
the needs of the global economy at
this crucial juncture. On this basis we
submit collectively to the G20 leadership
a set of recommendations to help guide
discussion at its April meeting in London.
We believe that policies based
on the principles of responsible
competitiveness will restore confidence
in our respective economies and pave
the way to renewed growth.
Since the November meeting of the
G20, the financial crisis that occupied
its agenda has become a global
economic crisis.
Advanced economies have contracted
and growth in emerging markets has
slowed precipitously.
Foreign direct investment flows
tumbled 21% in 2008, with worse
expected in 2009.
Capital markets lost over US $30
trillion in value, and unemployment
rates are rising around the globe. The
challenges facing the world economy
are now both broader and deeper than
any witnessed in decades.
The severity of the global reaction to
events originating in the United States
proves irrevocably that we operate in a
highly interdependent world.
It is therefore our view that
cooperation is needed to create the
framework for healthy international
competition. Innovation and economic
development can only be built on a
stable global system of balanced trade
and finance.
As such, governments must act in
a collaborative fashion to create a
sustainable framework for economic
recovery, including confidence-
restoring measures, credit easing,
fiscal coordination, open markets, and
standards for sound financial regulation.
to be coninuied..
Open Letter from GCF2009
to the Leaders of G20 Member Countries
The three-day conference produced a set of
recommendations to the leaders of the G20 nations
in order to guide their April 2009 meeting on restoring
global economic health:

coninuied..
The G20 leaders must begin by
restoring public confidence in
the integrity of our markets and
institutions. U.S. President Barack
Obama’s inauguration provides an
exciting opportunity to do so.
Decisive, collective action will
demonstrate the unity of world
governments in their commitment to
overcoming the crisis.
G20 governments must act swiftly and
convincingly to free up credit markets.
Recent announcements of further
bank losses once again threaten the
availability of credit to even the most
stable and profitable firms.
Unless monetary easing and other
measures translate into lower
borrowing costs for companies and
households, the broader economy
will be unable to recover.
As governments provide
unprecedented assistance to their
financial sectors, that helping hand
should be accompanied by vehicles
that direct credit to the private sector,
with emphasis on the small- and
medium-sized businesses that generate
the majority of the world’s jobs.
Furthermore, governments should
agree to a coordinated fiscal stimulus
policy, set at a target percentage of
GDP. Stimulus measures should focus
on initiatives that will enhance the
long-term competitiveness of each
country.
In addition to physical infrastructure,
priority should be given to investments
that foster vital human capital
development, including education and
healthcare.
Furthermore, there must be a
renewed commitment to research and
development budgets to fund future
economic vitality.
Particular emphasis should be
placed on areas that hold promise
for addressing climate change by
boosting energy efficiency and
promoting alternative energy.
While speed is of the essence in this
time of crisis, governments should
give careful thought to ways in which
spending can provide more than
just short-term, domestic stimulus,
and focus on investment and not
consumption.
Due to the interdependent nature
of this crisis, concerns about fiscal
burden-sharing and the“leakage”of
stimulus across borders are misplaced.
Open markets and recognition of
common interests are critical to
restoring shared growth.
These initiatives will create new
industries to power the economy’s
future. Accompanying monetary
easing in G20 economies should be a
commitment to provide the IMF
with adequate resources and policy
leverage to help the governments of
emerging economies to do the same.
This direct assistance could be
complemented by enhanced
opportunities for emerging economies
to help themselves.
For example, governments could
offer African companies tariff-free
market access similar to that allowed
by the United States’African Growth
Opportunity Act. It is imperative
that the Doha round of trade talks
be speedily concluded. Finally, as
these short-term measures are being
enacted, the G20 should also begin
the process of reforming oversight of
global financial markets.
While it is natural that the G20
countries have taken the lead in this
discussion, in order for a new regime
to be effective, fair, and welcomed, the
decision-making process that
produces it must be inclusive and
reflect the interests of all countries.
Greater involvement could be achieved
through the expansion of existing
institutions, such as the Financial Stability
Forum, or through the creation of new
ones that have already been proposed.
This is a time to develop new platforms
for cooperation that create engines of
economic growth and foster innovation
internationally.
As G20 leaders consider their goals for
the April meeting in London, we urge
them to bear in mind these priorities.
While we have confidence that
this crisis will pass, the manner in
which it is handled provides unique
opportunities to reposition the global
economy for sustainable growth
fueled by collaborative leadership and
responsible competitiveness.
For the full report on our proceedings
and detailed policy recommendations,
please visit our website:
www.gcf.org.sa
“ Priority should be
given to investments
that foster vital human
capital development,
including education and
healthcare..”

Saudi RCISaudi Porter PrizSFG 100

As the world’s premier platform
for discussion of competitiveness
challenges, the Saudi Arabian General
Investment Authority’s
Global Competitiveness Forum
has a powerful role to play in
advancing national competitiveness
in Saudi Arabia and globally.
SAGIA Initiatives
initiated an unprecedented,
comprehensive discussion of
competitiveness issues encompassing
the corporate sector, governments, and
civil society.
Creating prosperous societies requires
the engagement of all these elements
across a broad array of challenges: not
just unleashing competition, but also
sustaining human development, good
governance, and the environment.
For global observers, the proceedings
of the Global Competitiveness Forum
chart a path forward to economic
transformation and prosperity.
For Saudi Arabia, the Global
Competitiveness Forum is a crucial
pillar of the 10x10 program: the drive
to transform the Kingdom into one of
the world’s Top 10 most competitive
economies by 2010.
Where other gatherings produce
recommendations, the GCF is taking a
more ambitious role: direct initiatives
to foster responsible competitiveness.
This year’s theme
Responsible
Competitiveness,

Initiative - 1
SaudiFastGrowth
Real Companies, Real Growth, Real Success
Winners of similar US and UK lists developed by Harvard Business School Professor Michael Porter have cited new capital
sources from meeting major investors, winning large contracts, and gaining enhanced credibility as a result of appearing on
the lists. Now this opportunity is here in Saudi Arabia. Al-Watan is creating a special section of the newspaper to spotlight
the important role these emerging companies and Nominating Partners are playing in the future of the Saudi economy.
Saudi Fast Growth 100
Each year we rank
the fastest growing
emerging companies
in the Kingdom.
In addition, we
recognize start-ups,
women-owned
companies and those
owned by young
entrepreneurs.
Winners of SFG 2009 Saudi Fast Growth 100 TOP 5:
1. Secutronic
2. Ola Almajd
3. IT Security Training Solutions - I(TS)2
4. Integrated Networks LLC (iNET)
5. Al-Elm Security Information Company
2009 Saudi Fast Growth Start-Up List
1. Phenomenal PR Event
2. 2P for IT and Telco Services
3. ACWA Power International
4. Mobile Innovative Solutions Company
5. Innovative Business Solutions
SAGIA Initiatives
SFG FINDINGS:
Saudi Fast Growth applied companies
were classified into three groups:
1- The Saudi Fast Growth 100 are
five years and older.There were 45
companies that made that list.
2- Start up companies: younger than
five years (27 companies)
3- Companies toWatch (23 companies)
Highlights findings:
- The 45 companies in the Saudi Fast
Growth 100 have created 28,000 jobs
since their founding. Of that total,
15,000 jobs were created in just the
last five years.These are the dynamos
creating new value-added jobs in the
Kingdom.
- To make that happen, those 45
companies also grew at an impressive
average 5-year compound annual
growth rate of 40 percent.That
means that -- on average -- they grew
at 40% a year, every single year for
the past five years. Many of them
have grown much faster than that
- The 27 companies on the Start Up
list grew at a stunning rate of 198
percent from 2006 to 2007.
- SFG list is a diverse one.The
companies are both small and large,
ranging in size from 4 million SAR
to over 1 billion SAR.They represent
a wide range of industries, with the
fastest growing segment by far in
High-Tech andTelecommunications.
People running these companies:
1- Are mostly young. On average, our
Saudi Fast Growth 100 and Start Up
company CEOs were 32 years old
when they launched their businesses.
2- They also include many serial
entrepreneurs. Among the Saudi Fast
Growth 100, 42 percent of CEO’s had
started other businesses ... and for
the Start Ups that figure was even
higher -- 95 percent.That’s what we
call a «constant opportunity seeking”
CEO.This intense level of business
creation actually exceeds that of the
entrepreneurs on the US Inc. 500
– considered to be the platinum
standard of entrepreneurship
3- Not only are they creating many
businesses, but their rate of survival
is truly impressive.
4- Of the other companies formed in
addition to the Saudi Fast Growth
100, 90 percent are still in business.
5- You won’t be surprised to learn that
these are CEOs with big plans. 75
percent of the Saudi Fast Growth
100 and 90 percent of the Start Up
CEOs are planning to start another
business within the next two years.
6- Additionally, 33 percent of the Saudi
Fast Growth 100 and 15 percent of
the Start Ups are planning an IPO
within that same two year period.
7- A number of them had plans to
expand their businesses throughout
the Middle East and beyond. And
while many of them may be small
now, they have a strategy to become
the leading companies in the
Kingdom in their industries.
Greatest barrier for SFG to continue
to growth:
The number-one answer: human
capital. Shortage of qualified and
able people who are ready to join
their workforce and help drive their
growth.The second most frequently-
cited impediment to growth?
Government red tape. SAGIA and
other government ministries have
made consistent efforts to improve
the interface between companies
and government ... but there is still
work to be done.The third challenge
companies face is obtaining start-
up capital.That’s an obstacle we
can hope to see overcome as
the entrepreneurial economy
expands.The more the financial
community knows about successful
entrepreneurship in the Kingdom, the
more eager they will be to support
emerging companies and emerging
industries.This country -- like any
other country -- needs a vibrant local
capital market for entrepreneurial
companies.SAGIA and AlWatan
are playing a transformative role
by bringing to light examples of
entrepreneurial success.The more
these companies become known, the
more an entrepreneurial culture will
take hold in the Kingdom
“ In its very first year, the Saudi
Fast Growth 100 has either
met or exceeded international
benchmarks of US and
European company growth
lists such as the Inc. 500 and
the Euro 500 ..”

The Saudi Porter Prize, awarded by Harvard Business School Professor
Michael Porter, is given to a Saudi company with a distinctive
competitive strategy.
The Saudi Porter Prize is announced in January at the Global Competitiveness Forum in Riyadh and will be featured in national
and international media.
The Saudi Porter Prize was established to recognize outstanding Saudi companies and to enhance the competitiveness of the
Kingdom’s industries.
The winning company will have a distinctive strategy that results in an innovative national or global competitive positioning.
The Porter Prize has only been offered in Japan and now it is awarded in Saudi Arabia, the economic center of the Middle East.
Initiative - 2
The winning
company will
have a distinctive
strategy that results
in an innovative
national or global
competitive
positioning.
SAGIA Initiatives
Winner of Saudi Porter Prize:
Secutronic
(Number 1 in SFG100 list)
Saudi Porter Prize

Initiative - 3
To achieve
sustainable social
development
that encourages
the national
competitiveness
agenda in Saudi
Arabia,
RCI focuses on helping individual
companies integrate responsible
business practices into their core
business operations and to improve
their performance in a number of key
environmental, social and governance
(ESG) areas, through a process of
company-by-company analysis,
benchmarking, and shared learning; and
that through 3 special programs:
1. Saudi Responsible
Competitiveness Index (RCI)
RCI is an annual assessment of leading
businesses in Saudi Arabia conducted
based on international benchmarks and
local development needs.The assessment
looks into the strength of a company’s
strategy, management, engagement
processes and performance systems.
2. King Khalid Award for
Responsible Competitiveness
An annual award to recognize the
Saudi Responsible Competitveness Index
top 3 performers in the Responsible
Competitiveness Index (RCI)
3. Responsible Competitiveness
Leadership Dialogues
A series of dialogues bringing together
Saudi and International companies,
academics, and experts to exchange
knowledge of CSR and Competitiveness
best practices, in the aim of exploring
solutions for main national development
competitiveness challenges..
The Saudi Responsible Competitiveness
Index (RCI) helps responsible businesses
improve their performance and build
economic competitiveness, social
progress and sustainability. This helps
build competitiveness at sector, city,
region and national levels. It helps build
a critical mass of business-level activities
that cumulatively build a responsible
competitive climate. The Index is a core
part of the process of building medium-
term growth potential through
social and environmental
performance. The core of the RCI
is an annual assessment of leading
businesses in Saudi Arabia.
The assessment looks into the
strength of a company’s strategy,
management, engagement
processes and performance
systems.
Participating businesses will have
a confidential briefing on this
performance against sectoral,
national and global benchmarks.
The process of engaging in the
index, we believe, offers learning
opportunities for senior managers
using the benchmarking tools. The
framework has been developed
to take account of competitive
pressures and opportunities in the
Kingdom.
Winners of the RCI are:
First Place: NCB.
Second Place: Al-Zamil Group.
Third Place: Al-Fanar
King Khaled Award
for Responsible Competitiveness
KKF Award
Rewarding the top ranking companies,
King Khalid Foundation presents the
King Khalid Responsible Award.
The annual award is offered to the best
3 performing companies as per the RCI
assessment and ranking; the winners
were announced in January 2009
during the Global Competitiveness
Forum (GCF).
This step crowns RCI and supports
the efforts to encourage local
companies to build a prosperous
society and honor the private sector
institutions that have fulfilled their
responsibilities to the Saudi society
and helped achieving sustainable
social development.
Rewarding the top
ranking companies,
King Khalid
Foundation presents
the King Khalid
Responsible Award.
NCB, 1st. Winner
Al-Fanar, 3rd WinnerAl-Zamil Grp, 2nd Winner

Day 1 Speakers Day 2 Speakers Day 3 Speakers

A - B
Shinzo Abe
90th Prime Minister of Japan
Achtmeyer
Chairman and Managing Partner,
Parthenon Group
Sulaiman Abdullah Al–Hamdan
CEO,
National Air Services
(NAS Holding)
Al Jasser
Mohamed H. Al-Mady
Vice-Chairman and CEO,
Saudi Basic Industries Corporation
(SABIC)
Fahd Al-Rasheed
CEO and Board Member of
Emaar the Economic City (EEC)
H.E. Dr. Mohammed Al-Suwaiyel
President,
King Abdulaziz City
for Science and Technology
William J. Amelio
President and CEO,
Lenovo
Dr.Wilhelm Bender
Chairman of the Executive Board,
Fraport AG
Jørgen Clausen
President and CEO,
Danfoss A/S
Dr. Hans-Paul Buerkner
President and CEO,
BCG
Stanley M. Bergman
CEO,
Henry Schein, Inc.
Dr. Shumeet Banerji
CEO,
Booz and Company
“GCF2009 Speakers”
Speakers
Andre Bergen
CEO,
KBC Group
James Barrett
Executive Director,
Redefining Progress

C - E F - K
Aron Cramer
President and CEO,
Business for Social Responsibility
Geoff Cape
Founder and CEO,
Evergreen
Dr. Philip Campbell
Editor in Chief,
Nature Magazine
Timothy Flynn
Chairman,
KPMG International
Carlos Ghosn
President and CEO,
Nissan Motor Co. Ltd.
Tomas Enders
CEO,
Airbus SAS
Saeb Eigner
Chairman,
Lonworld
Thorleif Enger
Former President and CEO,
Yara International ASA
Mark Fuller
Chairman,
Monitor Group
Stéphane Garelli
Professor at
IMD and the University of Lausanne;
Director,
World Competitiveness Center
George Gruner
Founder and CSO,
Unidym
Rajat K. Gupta
Senior Partner Emeritus,
McKinsey Company
Dr. Robert Huggins
Director,
Centre for International
Competitiveness
Sheikh Saleh Kamel
Chairman,
General Council for Islamic
Banks
Riz Khan
International Journalist,
Al Jazeera English
Michael Kaiser
President,
John F. Kennedy Center for the
Performing Arts
Henry R. Kravis
Founding Partner,
Kohlberg Kravis Roberts Co.
Peter Kurer
Chairman,
UBS AG
Jean Chrétien
20th Prime Minister of Canada
Jim Clifton
Chairman and CEO,
The Gallup Organization
Speakers
Angel Cabrera
President,
Thunderbird School of
Global Management
John Drzik
President and CEO,
Oliver Wyman Group
Dr. Lalit Johri
Director,
Advanced Management Programme,
Oxford Saïd Business School
Johann Koss
President and CEO,
Right to Play and 4x Olympic
Gold Medalist
Dr. Michio Kaku
Theoretical Physicist,
Professor,
and Best Selling Author
Markus Brehler
CEO and Founder,
Enocean
Philippe Bourgois
Richard Perry University Professor
of Anthropology and Family and
Community Medicine, University of
Pennsylvania
Lori Bonn
Founder and CEO, Bonnventures
Enocean
Carl Lewis
9x Olympic Gold Medallist
Wolfgang Lehmacher
Member of the Board,
GeoPost S.A.;
Paris Group CEO,
Pasona Group Inc.

L - P Q -T
Michael Phelps
14x Olympic Gold Medalist
Michael Porter
University Professor,
Harvard Business School
MagatteWade-Marchand
Co-Founder and President,
Adina for Life
Tun Dr. Mahathir bin Mohamad
4th Prime Minister of Malaysia
Nandan Nilekani
Executive Co-Chairman,
Infosys Technologies Ltd
Maria Otero
President and CEO,
ACCION International
H. E. Mohammad Hassan Omran
Chairman,
Emirates Telecommunications
Corporation,
Etisalat
Peter Brabeck-Letmathe
Chairman,
Nestlé SA
Gertjan Lankhorst
CEO,
GasTerra
Huguette Labelle
Chair of the Board,
Transparency International
James H. Quigley
CEO,
Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu
Thomas Russo
Former Vice Chairman,
Lehman Brothers
Mary Robinson
7th President of Ireland
David G. Rosenberg
CEO and Founder,
Hycrete Inc.
Tom Searle
President and
Group Chief Executive,
CH2M Hill International
Peter Schwartz
CEO,
Global Business Network
Kap-Soo, Suh
Chairman and Founder,
KTIC
Deborah L.Wince-Smith
President,
Council on Competitiveness
Original
Find from Best brand recreate PMS
Paolo Scaroni
CEO,
Eni S.p.A.
Barry Sternlicht
Chairman and CEO,
Starwood Capital Group
Timothy P. Shriver
Chairman,
Special Olympics Inc.
Peter Schiff
President and
Chief Global Strategist,
Euro Pacific Capital
Björn Stigson
President,
World Business Council for
Sustainable Development
Peer Schatz
CEO,
Qiagen
Jean-PascalTricoire
CEO,
Schneider Electric
Speakers
Michael Powell
Founder,
Powell’s Books
Stephen G. Pagliuca
Managing Director,
Bain Capital Partners LLC
John Quelch
Lincoln Filene Professor of
Business Administration,
Harvard Business School
LauraTyson
Professor, Haas Business School and
Former Chair, US President’s Council
of Economic Advisors
Adolfo Urso
Undersecretary of
International Trade,
Italy

T - Z
GaryWinnick
Chairman of the Board,
Pacific Capital Group Inc.
ChristineWhitman
50th Governor of New Jersey and 9th
Administrator of the Environmental
Protection agency
Herbert-Michael Zapf
President and CEO,
International Post Corporation
Speakers

Competitiveness SponsorsStrategic PartnersCompetitiveness Partners

Ultimate/ITPartner
Sponsors Media Partners

Competitiveness Partners Strategic Partners
Competitiveness Sponsors

Principal Media Partners Media Partners

The NCC is currently supporting the
creation of Advisory Councils that
bring together stakeholders from
the private and public sectors in key
clusters to identify and collaborate on
competitiveness improvement initiatives.
Finally, it acts as a communicator for
change, sharing the results of the
Kingdom’s ongoing competitiveness
efforts though such channels as its
Competitiveness Review.
Established in 2000, the Saudi
Arabian General Investment
Authority (SAGIA) is committed
to enhancing the experience
of investing and operating in
the Kingdom by serving as an
information clearinghouse and by
providing comprehensive licensing
and support services to
investors.
Its mission is the fulfillment of
10X10 Program:
the plan to position Saudi Arabia among
the top ten most competitive economies
by 2010 through the creation of a
business-friendly environment.
Marrying local knowledge with world-class
business expertise, SAGIA believes strongly
in promoting entrepreneurship and the
relentless pursuit of data-driven results.
GCF2009 Hosts
• Identifies investment opportunities that
are linked to the Kingdom’s competitive
advantages and matches them to
interested and qualified investors.
• Provides value-added business services
and solutions to investors and business
owners, such as the One-Step Shops
(OSS) offices centralizing the critical
services necessary to invest in or to set
up and operate a business in Saudi
Arabia
• Serves as the main point of contact
between investors and other national and
regional agencies within the Kingdom
as well as private-sector organizations
to develop and refine business laws and
policies.
NCC Mission:
To support the Kingdom of Saudi
Arabia’s competitiveness agenda
through objective, data-driven advice
on regulatory reform and sector
improvement opportunities that will
contribute to increasing, sustainable
prosperity for the people of
Saudi Arabia.
• Represents the Kingdom abroad
through nine international o
Represents the Kingdom abroad
through nine international offices
on four continents to market Saudi
Arabia’s business climate and to offer
on-the-ground advice on all aspects
of doing business in Saudi Arabia.
• Offices on four continents to market
Saudi Arabia’s business climate and
to offer on-the-ground advice on all
aspects of doing business in Saudi
Arabia.
The National Competitiveness
Center (NCC) was established by
SAGIA in 2006 as a body to monitor,
assess, and support competitiveness
enhancement in the Kingdom of Saudi
Arabia.
The NCC fulfills this role in three ways:
It serves as a think tank for change
by conducting and developing
competitive assessments and
monitoring the implementation and
results of change programs.
These programs focus on two main
areas: improving the ease of doing
business in the Kingdom, through
spurring modernization of the general
business environment;
and improving the microeconomic
fundamentals of competitiveness,
through mobilizing development of
world-class clusters.
During 2008, the NCC played a key
role in advocating for a range of
improvements to Saudi Arabia’s
business environment, including
rules strengthening protection of
shareholders and a reduction in
commercial registration fees.
It works as a facilitator of change
by creating forums for discussion
between the public and private
sector.
As the“gardian
angel”of business
in Saudi Arabia,
SAGIA:

GCF2009 Photo Gallery - Day1

See you at GCF2010
24-26 January 2010
- 97 -www.gcf.org.sa

www.gcf.org.sa
GlobalC
om
petitiveness Forum, Responsible Competitiveness, Proce
edings
GlobalC
om
petitivenessForum,ResponsibleCompetitiveness,Proce
edings
- 98 -

GCF 2009 Global Competitiveness Forum Riyadh

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GCF 2009 Global Competitiveness Forum Riyadh