JEDDAH - Makkah Economic Forum (MEF) organized three workshops on Sunday as part of its ongoing year-long program to engage the private sector in the region’s development activities to achieve the objectives of Kingdom's Vision 2030. The workshops comprised the second set of activities organized by the forum since the opening of the program by Prince Abdullah Bin Bandar, deputy emir of Makkah, and head of the supervisory committee of the MEF, last week.
The first seminar on the topic «Winning through collaborative engagements» highlighted the significance of collaboration in major achievements. Collaboration has attained much significance in Saudi Arabia at a time when the Kingdom is focused on diversification, economic growth and social development, they said.
Abdul Rahman Alim, chairman of Al-Mahmoudia Alim for Petrochemical Investment, and founder of the National Business Youth Initiative, said the initiative has so far resulted in many successful and lucrative business deals. “We aimed right from the start to build a strong base of successful entrepreneurs,” he said. Stressing the importance of adopting the right communication with the right people, Alim said these two factors constitute the most important components of successful collaboration.
Raed Al-Tayar, vice president of Al-Tayyar Plastics Factory and member of the Consultative Council of National Business Youth Initiative, said the initiative is unique because all its members are young entrepreneurs. The Ministry of Labor and Social Development welcomed the initiative since it is aligned to the government directive to engage the youth in the decision-making process, and give them a larger role because they are the future leaders, he said.
Amr Banaja, senior vice president, Marketing and CSR, SEDCO, drew attention to ‘Riyali’, a saving program implemented by SEDCO in collaboration with the Ministry of Education to promote saving habits among school and college students. He stressed the importance of strategic collaboration with all public and government players with a view to serving the end-user. Collaboration among private sector companies should not be based on competition, but on serving the end-user, Banaja stated, citing the example of collaboration between Apple and Google.
The second seminar of the day on the topic, ‘Digitalization and Social Media and its role in putting your business on the map’, revealed how the proliferation of connectivity, and the information and tools available today are making the world a much smaller place than ever before.
Addressing the seminar, Sumai Ounallah, executive partner, UNFOLD ARABIA, highlighted the role of social media in generating lucrative profit for companies and enhancing engagement with targeted segments during marketing campaigns. He urged companies to diversify digital platforms to reach different segments based on the nature of work.
A special panel discussion on the topic, ‘Surviving change in a rapidly evolving environment — breaking old habits’, called on decision-makers in both the private and public sectors in the Kingdom to adapt, transform and drive their teams in the right direction.
Prince Waleed Bin Nasser, entrepreneur and former VP, People and Shared Services at MdDonald’s, said the Transformation Program 2020 and Vision 2030 have introduced sweeping changes to consumer behavior. He called upon companies to discard old traditional business methods and adopt innovative policies to adapt to rapid changes.
Pointing out that small enterprises are in a better position because they can adapt to swift changes, he urged SMEs to utilize the emerging opportunities in the military industries and the tourism sectors. His message to SMEs is to understand NTP 2020 and Vision 2030 and form blocs together to overcome current challenges.
Saud Al-Sulaiman, CEO of IKEA, Saudi Arabia, called upon SMEs to set their sights on three strategic areas: concentrate on selling solutions rather than products; focus on customer experience measurement rather than efficiency in selling a product; and take care of basic needs of each customer and view customers as brand ambassadors. He encouraged SMEs to develop the capabilities of employees, increase productivity and focus on behavior, entrepreneurial leadership as well as emotional intelligence to ensure that employees understand the policies of SMEs.