-Caveat Lector- http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/kt_special/200109/t2001092117325649110.htm Saudi Arabia Among Fastest Growing Economies The discovery of oil turned Saudi Arabia into a wealthy nation but today advanced in have turned it into one of the fastest developing countries in the world. Saudi Arabia is now the world's 20th largest exporter and the most dynamic economic power in the Arab world. Huge amounts of money have been invested in the Kingdom's infrastructure: roads are being built at the rate of 1,100 miles a year; new housing, hospitals, schools and industries have been developed. In less than 60 years, the kingdom has been transformed from a land served by rough dirt tracks, country with a board-based, strong and stable economy. The test of a country's economy is how it survives in bad times. Saudi Arabia passed that test when oil revenues dropped dramatically in the eighties. The government and private sector quickly came to terms with the Kingdom's new circumstances. Long term planning, which had gone into increasing Saudi Arabia's economic efficiency and widening its productive base, paid dividends. Waste has been dramatically reduced and production costs are falling. Encouragement of the private sector and other realistic policies are continuing to boost the strength and stability of the Saudi Arabian Riyal. Saudi Arabia's extraordinary development has been carefully planned. Since 1390AH(1970) the kingdom has set itself strategic targets within a rolling program of five-year plans covering every aspect of life in the kingdom. The current five year plan which runs from 1416AH (1995) to the end of 1421AH (2000) aims to create a fast growing, vibrant economy in order to ensure full employment. Economic aims include: *The annual growth rate in 1416AH(1995) was 4.3 percent and rose to 7.1 percent by 1418AH(1997) * By the end of the financial year 1418AH(1997) the Gross Domestic Product totaled SR547 billion ($145.8 billion) up from SR511 billion ($1366.3 billion) in 1417AH(1996). * Private sector growth rate rose from 3.5 percent in 1417AH(1996) to 4.1 percent in 1418AH1997). Oil Saudi Arabia's oil and gas reserves remain its greatest national asset and its largest single source of revenue. The Kingdom has more than a quarter of the world's recoverable oil reserves. Every day the Kingdom produces about eight million barrels of crude oil, from which the country's nine refineries produce about 1.8 million barrels of petroleum. ARAMCO, the Saudi oil company and the world's largest producer, constantly works to find new ways of marketing and refining oil. Exploration continues in the search for new reserves beneath Saudi soil. Thanks to diversification into industry and commerce the oil sector of the economy now accounts for only 36 percent of the Gross Domestic Product. Industry Saudi industrial products are now exported to more than 90 countries. The major industrial cities at Jubail, in the eastern province, and Yanbu, on the Red Sea, come under a special Royal Commission. Other industrial cities are in Riyadh, Jeddash, Dammam, Al-Quassim, Al- Ahasa, Makkah, Jubail and Yanbu. Industrial plants and factories turn out fertilizers, steel, petrochemicals, cement glass and plastics. More industrial cities are planned planed for other parts of the Kingdom in order to spread economic prosperity to all. The industrial development pf Saudi Arabia in the past 30 years has resulted in an extraordinary turn around. Once Saudi Arabia imported all the manufactured products it required. Now its factories supply an increasing proportion of the country's domestic market and have a growing export market. Agriculture Agriculture has developed from harvesting dates and raising sheep, camels and goats into one of the most productive sectors of the Kingdom. It now plays a crucial role in the national economy. Government policies have led to a revolution in agriculture. Farmers and agricultural companies have been encouraged to increase production and have been encouraged to increase production and have been given unused land so that it can be brought into cultivation and used for rearing livestock and growing crops. Cultivated land has now increased from 600,000 hectares in 1416AH (1995). The Saudi Arabian agricultural Bank supplies loans to help individual farmers and companies invest in ambitious projects. More than 3,132 new agricultural projects have been set up through this loan scheme. The country is now self-sufficient in wheat, dates, vegetables, many fruits, dairy products, eggs, chickens, fish and shrimps. Excess produce is exported _ an extraordinary achievement for a desert land. In 1418AH (1997) the Kingdom produced 2.7 million tons of vegetables, more than a million tons of fruit and 650,000 tons of dates. Mining Rich mineral deposits also lie beneath the sands of Saudi Arabia. The Ministry of Petroleum and Minerals has granted more than 650 licenses to companies to quarry and extract granite, marble, limestone, sand and clay. Sixteen concessions have been granted for extracting gold, rare metals and industrial minerals. The country's biggest gold mines are in Mahd-Al-Dhahab and Al-Skhaibrat which together produced 154,000 once of gold in 1416AH (1995) The Saudi Arabian Mining Company organizes and overseas all mining operations. One of its primary aims is to expand the mining sector and it has granted a number of companies permission to prospect for further mineral deposits. The mining sector is currently growing at more than 9 percent a year and contributes 4 percent of the Gross Domestic Product. Banking Banking is another boom sector in the Saudi economy. There are 12 commercial banks which now have more than 1,160 branches compared with just 65 a few years ago. Total assets of the banking system increased from under SR2.5 billion ($6.66 billion) in 1391AH (1971) to SR323.9 billion ($86.4 billion) at the end of third quarter of 1416AH (1995). Capital and reserves increased to SR38.9 billion ($10.4 billion) in 1418AH (1997). The rapid expansion of deposits has allowed the banking system to take a leading role in marshalling Saudi financial resources to fund the expanding activities of the private sector. Since 1411 AH (1990) a number of Saudi banks have tripled domestic and private sector loans which reached SR108.6 billion ($29 billion) in 1415AH(1994) Share trading is organized under the supervision of the Saudi Monetary Agency (SAMA) _ the Kingdom's Central Bank. Shares are currently traded in more than 96 Saudi companies on the loc stock exchange. Saudi banks rank among the 100 largest banks in the Arab world and four are in the top ten. �Է½ð� 2001/09/21 17:32 �� Back ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Forwarded as information only; no endorsement to be presumed + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107, this material is distributed without charge or profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving this type of information for non-profit research and educational purposes only. + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + The only real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes. -Marcel Proust + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + "Do not believe in anything simply because you have heard it. Do not believe simply because it has been handed down for many generations. Do not believe in anything simply because it is spoken and rumored by many. 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