One of the Gulf’s senior business leaders has called on regional governments to exit from core sectors and instead provide vision and leadership to economies.

Mohamed Ali Alabbar, director general of Dubai’s Department of Economic Development (DED) and chairman of Emaar Properties, said governments should create and facilitate an environment for growth.
  Speaking at a meeting of the Jeddah Economic Forum, Alabbar said governments should focus on providing the core framework essential for the efficient operation of complex modern markets. He observed that the primary role of government was to remove barriers and facilitate economic growth by initiating investor-friendly regulations that encouraged foreign investment. This could only happen if the public sector adopted the model of private sector corporations in order to provide efficient services.
“Our focus must be on creating improved transparency and disclosure, resulting from government performance-based budgeting systems linking spending with measured results and outcomes. And this can only happen when the public sector begins to measure itself with the same yardstick as the private sector,” said Alabbar.
Alabbar was speaking at a session on “The Role of Government: leader, follower, arbitrator?” Other panelists included Professor Tim Niblock from the Institute of Arab and Islamic Studies, University of Exeter, UK, and Hassan Heikal, co-chairman and CEO, EFG-Hermes Holding, Egypt. Moderating the session was Mohammad Abdullah El- Khereiji, chairman, El-Khereiji Group, Saudi Arabia.
Alabbar agreed that many mature economies had begun to downplay the role of the government and moved from government-protectionist approaches to policies allowing more open competition and exposure to market forces. He acknowledged the significant responsibility of governments, suggesting that the need for efficient government mechanisms had never been more evident than in present circumstances.
“The role of a government should be largely designed to creating the necessary legal and regulatory systems in line with international best practices since all governments, regardless of political colour, are concerned with maximising output from a nation’s resources,” he said.
Alabbar stressed the need for strong public-private sector partnerships that would enable the government to provide more efficient services for its citizens. He specially highlighted the significance of education in the knowledge-based economy, calling for greater private sector participation in the sector, with a growing focus on delivering premium-quality education that was aligned to the needs of the market.
Earlier, Alabbar participated in a special selective session on the ambitious Emaar joint venture with its Saudi partners. The session theme was: “Greenfields for the Future – King Abdullah Economic City” and Alabbar discussed Emaar’s recently launched King Abdullah Economic City. Representing the single largest private sector investment in Saudi Arabia with an investment of SR100 billion ($26.6 billion), King Abdullah Economic City is a signal of the dawn of a new era of economic prosperity for the citizens of the kingdom.
The city will be a mixed-use development located north of the commercial hub of Jeddah. A massive 55 million sq m of greenfield land with a 35 km shoreline close to the industrial city of Rabegh has been earmarked for the master development. The city will have six distinct components – a modern world-class seaport, industrial district, financial island, education zone, resorts and a residential area. Completion of the overall project will be done in stages with the first batch of businesses and residents moving into the city in a period of 24 to 36 months. It will also create 500,000 jobs for Saudi Arabia.
Emaar Properties, along with its flagship Saudi Arabia project, King Abdullah Economic City, served as partner sponsor for the Jeddah Economic Forum. Emaar is the world’s number one property developer in terms of market capitalisation,
Commenting on the importance of the Saudi Arabia market for Emaar, Ali Alabbar said: “This is a critical time for the kingdom. The country is in its economic prime. Not only did Saudi Arabia become part of the World Trade Organisation last year, but the country also saw a GDP rise of 7 per cent and a 50 per cent surge in oil exports.
“As the largest economy in the Middle East, Saudi Arabia has unlimited potential for growth and the recent announcement of the Emaar-led project - King Abdullah Economic City - will contribute to this growth.”