Saudi-Arabien Wirtschaftshandbuch Saudi Arabia Business ... - Ghorfa

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lives of over 100 people since May 2003, a public discussion
broke out about extremism and fundamentalism
in the Saudi society. Many younger people see religious
fervour as a possibility for protesting against Western influences,
especially against US policy in the Middle East
and in Iraq, which is seen as dominant and unfair.
As a result of the attacks, public demands for reforms became
louder. In contrast to the economic reform process
that was initiated at the end of the 90s, the political reforms
are more long-term and aim to allow the citizens
more say in the way the country is governed. For the first
time in 2004, half of the community council members
were elected by the population.
Despite the success of the reforms, the human rights situation
in Saudi Arabia cannot be compared to that in Western
states. The judiciary system follows the Scharia. Recently
however, a more open approach to human rights
issues has been noted. New laws have reformed the penal
system and regulate the legal profession. In March 2004,
a National Society for Human Rights was founded; its
members are appointed by the government.
Saudi Arabia has played an important role in foreign policy
since the 70s. The Kingdom has always been an ally
to the West. Efforts to fight terror and the developments
in Afghanistan and in Iraq have become an important
point of focus of foreign policy. The Kingdom is trying
to exert its influence as a moderate regional power. One
of Saudi Arabia’s declared political goals is to promote
the spread of Islam across the world. This is supported by
a wide range of international Islamic organisations (e.g.
Muslim World League) and private charities (e.g. World
Assembly of Muslim Youth).
As far as Saudi Arabia is concerned, stability in the Middle
East is of great political importance. Progress in the peace
process is important for the Saudi leaders as the Palestine
issue also has consequences for credibility and legitimation
in their own country and the Arabian world as a whole.
Progress could also weaken the arguments of religiously
motivated terrorism. From a Saudi point of view, successes
in the peace process are only possible if the USA increases
its commitment in a balanced way. The Saudi political
circles are carefully monitoring the developments in Iraq.
There are fears that ongoing instability in Iraq could have
a negative impact on their own country.
Since the Kingdom was founded, the USA has always
been Saudi Arabia’s most important ally. However relations
have cooled considerably since the Iraq war due to
Saudi Arabia’s negative attitude. Despite this, the relationship
to the USA is still a central element of the Saudi
foreign policy. In light of the fact that the USA has been
able to further expand its regional supremacy thanks to
the downfall of the Iraq regime, the ‘strategic alliance’
between these two countries is now in a transformation
phase. The economic interests (Saudi oil deliveries) still
play a large role in the mutual relationship. In recent
years, Saudi Arabia has been focussing more on Europe,
and relations to Germany play the major role.
As the country of the Two Holy Mosques of Islam and due
to its oil wealth, Saudi Arabia has a pivotal role in the
Arab world. Saudi Arabia is a leading power of the Gulf
Cooperation Council (GCC) that is located in Saudi-
Arabian capital of Riyadh. In the past few years, the six
Gulf states have visibly intensified their cooperation in
the fields of economy and security. Also, Saudi Arabia is
an important member state of the League of Arab States.
Saudi Arabia also exerts great influence on the work of
the Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC) whose
secretariat was set up in Jeddah in 1970. Saudi Arabia
also has an important role in OPEC.
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PrinziPien Der
WirTSchAfTSOrDnunG
Aufgrund seines Ölreichtums hat das Königreich Saudi-Arabien
seit den 70er Jahren enorme Fortschritte in
seiner wirtschaftlichen Entwicklung gemacht. Gleichzeitig
nahmen aber die stets reichlich fließenden Erdöleinnahmen
für einen langen Zeitraum den Druck von
der Regierung, wichtige Strukturreformen wie z.B. die
Privatisierung von Staatsbetrieben, die Konsolidierung
der Staatsfinanzen, den Abbau von Subventionen sowie
die Öffnung der Wirtschaft für Auslandsinvestoren
konsequent und zügig durchzuführen. So war auch die
einheimische Industrie durch Regulierungen von der internationalen
Konkurrenz abgeschirmt.
Ende der 90er Jahre setzte eine erneute Modernisierungs-
und Reformphase ein. Es wurden Maßnahmen
und Reformschritte angestoßen, die darauf abzielten,
Saudi-Arabien im 21. Jahrhundert auf eine vordere Position
in der wirtschaftlichen Entwicklung zu bringen.
Durch eine Vielzahl von politischen und wirtschaftlichen
Reformen sollten die wirtschaftliche Diversifizierung
vorangebracht, die technologische Basis verbreitert, die
Exporte gesteigert und mehr Arbeitsplätze, vor allem