04 April 2010
RIYADH - Dr. Abdullah Bin Abdulrahman Al-Othman, President of King Saud University (KSU), has said that the newly-formed Wadi Al-Riyadh Technology Company will provide job opportunities to 5,000 students by 2020.
The company is one of three that is being set up on the recommendation of the Permanent Committee of the Supreme Economic Council. The Cabinet recently approved licenses for two other companies Wadi Jeddah and Wadi Al-Dhahran.
Wadi Al-Riyadh, which will have SR100 million as start-up capital, is permitted to invest in the transfer and development of technology, train university students for the private sector, find jobs for students, and try to attract local and foreign investment.
Al-Othman said that the company's first product, a specially designed pager for schools, which has already been patented at the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, will be launched in the next six months with orders for 10,000 pagers having been received from private schools.
In an interview with Okaz, Al-Othman said that the establishment of the three technology companies in the Kingdom is at the initiative of King Abdullah, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, who is a pioneer of scientific, technological and economic development in the Kingdom.
He said that the Kingdom's unlimited support for higher education is evidenced in the establishment of new universities in all regions of the country and is in line with King Abdullah's policy of linking institutions of higher education to the requirements of socioeconomic development so as to eventually create a knowledge-based economy.
"Knowledge has become a criterion for measuring the progress and prosperity of nations," Al-Othman said, adding that the three technology companies are involved in developing industries based on knowledge that will eventually contribute to the production of research technologies.
Al-Othman admitted that the Wadi Al-Riyadh Technology Company relies on scientific research financed through the university's scientific research fund, and that as such, the money available for research is necessarily small.
"This is an indisputable fact. Generally, budgets and allocations for scientific research in Arab countries are small. However, I would like to point out that government allocations for scientific research in developed countries are not all that large either because research is often financed by the private sector. Indeed the private sector in developed countries finances most scientific research projects and spends billions if not trillions on these projects," Al-Othman explained.
He said that in the next two weeks, King Saud University would offer 17 investment opportunities to the private sector, each of which can be dealt with as an independent business entity or company.
He added that the university represented by Wadi Al-Riyadh Technology Company would own shares of any new product together with the inventor of the product and the financing company.
In the case of the school pager, for example, Al-Othman said that Khaled Al-Zahrani, a student in KSU's faculty of engineering, owns 60 percent of the company, which is called "Pager Co", and thus has a larger stake in the firm than the university.
Al-Othman said that he expects the Wadi Al-Riyadh Technology Company to attract a large number of local and international scientific research centers which could eventually employ up to 3,000 researchers and 12,000 commercial experts and provide jobs to students before and after their graduation.
He said the company now includes more than 22 local and international firms, such as SABIC and Riyadh Pharma Co., as well as the ministries of Higher Education and Agriculture, all of which will build research, development, education and training centers. He added that the investments of these organizations could exceed SR2,000 million.
RIYADH - Dr. Abdullah Bin Abdulrahman Al-Othman, President of King Saud University (KSU), has said that the newly-formed Wadi Al-Riyadh Technology Company will provide job opportunities to 5,000 students by 2020.
The company is one of three that is being set up on the recommendation of the Permanent Committee of the Supreme Economic Council. The Cabinet recently approved licenses for two other companies Wadi Jeddah and Wadi Al-Dhahran.
Wadi Al-Riyadh, which will have SR100 million as start-up capital, is permitted to invest in the transfer and development of technology, train university students for the private sector, find jobs for students, and try to attract local and foreign investment.
Al-Othman said that the company's first product, a specially designed pager for schools, which has already been patented at the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, will be launched in the next six months with orders for 10,000 pagers having been received from private schools.
In an interview with Okaz, Al-Othman said that the establishment of the three technology companies in the Kingdom is at the initiative of King Abdullah, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, who is a pioneer of scientific, technological and economic development in the Kingdom.
He said that the Kingdom's unlimited support for higher education is evidenced in the establishment of new universities in all regions of the country and is in line with King Abdullah's policy of linking institutions of higher education to the requirements of socioeconomic development so as to eventually create a knowledge-based economy.
"Knowledge has become a criterion for measuring the progress and prosperity of nations," Al-Othman said, adding that the three technology companies are involved in developing industries based on knowledge that will eventually contribute to the production of research technologies.
Al-Othman admitted that the Wadi Al-Riyadh Technology Company relies on scientific research financed through the university's scientific research fund, and that as such, the money available for research is necessarily small.
"This is an indisputable fact. Generally, budgets and allocations for scientific research in Arab countries are small. However, I would like to point out that government allocations for scientific research in developed countries are not all that large either because research is often financed by the private sector. Indeed the private sector in developed countries finances most scientific research projects and spends billions if not trillions on these projects," Al-Othman explained.
He said that in the next two weeks, King Saud University would offer 17 investment opportunities to the private sector, each of which can be dealt with as an independent business entity or company.
He added that the university represented by Wadi Al-Riyadh Technology Company would own shares of any new product together with the inventor of the product and the financing company.
In the case of the school pager, for example, Al-Othman said that Khaled Al-Zahrani, a student in KSU's faculty of engineering, owns 60 percent of the company, which is called "Pager Co", and thus has a larger stake in the firm than the university.
Al-Othman said that he expects the Wadi Al-Riyadh Technology Company to attract a large number of local and international scientific research centers which could eventually employ up to 3,000 researchers and 12,000 commercial experts and provide jobs to students before and after their graduation.
He said the company now includes more than 22 local and international firms, such as SABIC and Riyadh Pharma Co., as well as the ministries of Higher Education and Agriculture, all of which will build research, development, education and training centers. He added that the investments of these organizations could exceed SR2,000 million.
By Abdulmohsen Al-Harithy
© The Saudi Gazette 2010
