Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
07JEDDAH512
2007-12-15 18:27:00
SECRET
Consulate Jeddah
Cable title:  

ABHA 2030: ASIR DEPUTY GOV DISCUSSES REFORMS,

Tags:  ECON EIND ELAB SCUL SOCI 
pdf how-to read a cable
VZCZCXRO2755
PP RUEHBC RUEHDE RUEHDIR RUEHKUK RUEHLH RUEHPW RUEHROV
DE RUEHJI #0512/01 3491827
ZNY SSSSS ZZH
P 151827Z DEC 07
FM AMCONSUL JEDDAH
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 0427
INFO RUEHZM/GULF COOPERATION COUNCIL COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUCNISL/ISLAMIC COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 02 JEDDAH 000512 

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

RIYADH, PLEASE PASS TO DHAHRAN, DEPT PASS TO NEA/ARP FOR
RJACHIM/SRAMESH

E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/15/2017
TAGS: ECON EIND ELAB SCUL SOCI
SUBJECT: ABHA 2030: ASIR DEPUTY GOV DISCUSSES REFORMS,
SAUDIZATION

REF: 05 JEDDAH 5022

Classified By: Consul General Tatiana Gfoeller for Reasons 1.4 (b) and
(d).

S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 02 JEDDAH 000512

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

RIYADH, PLEASE PASS TO DHAHRAN, DEPT PASS TO NEA/ARP FOR
RJACHIM/SRAMESH

E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/15/2017
TAGS: ECON EIND ELAB SCUL SOCI
SUBJECT: ABHA 2030: ASIR DEPUTY GOV DISCUSSES REFORMS,
SAUDIZATION

REF: 05 JEDDAH 5022

Classified By: Consul General Tatiana Gfoeller for Reasons 1.4 (b) and
(d).


1. (S) SUMMARY: While in Abha to open the American Culture
and Commerce Festival organized by Consulate General Jeddah,
the CG met with the Deputy Governor (DG) of Asir to discuss
the status of ongoing reforms in the province. These
reforms, collectively known as "Abha 2030," include
modernizing the education system, developing a high-tech
sector, expanding the tourism industry, and relaxing certain
social restrictions. The DG acknowledged contradictions
between some of these reforms and the SAG,s Saudization
policy, and called the latter "a dead letter." END SUMMARY.

A PRINCE,S LEGACY OF REFORM


2. (S) While in Abha to open the American Culture and
Commerce Festival organized by Consulate General Jeddah, the
CG took the opportunity to sit down with Dr. Abdulaziz
Al-Khedheiri, Deputy Governor of Asir province, for a
wide-ranging discussion on economic, political, and social
trends in the region. The DG was eager to present Asir as a
model of development within the Kingdom, and excitedly
described ongoing efforts to modernize the deeply
conservative region, also known for being the place of origin
of 11 of the 15 Saudi hijackers involved in the attacks of
September 11.


3. (S) The reforms now underway were initiated by the former
governor, Prince Khaled al Faisal, who spent thirty years
fighting a lonely battle to bring Asir out of obscurantism.
Several years ago, he enlisted the help of Dr. Al-Khedheiri,
who reluctantly came from Riyadh to Abha, the provincial
capital of Asir, to serve as his longtime friend,s deputy.
In May, the Prince,s close alliance with King Abdullah
resulted in his elevation to Governor of Mecca, arguably the
most prestigious governorship in the Kingdom. Dr.
Al-Khedheiri, who holds advanced degrees in city planning and
development from prestigious American universities, has

remained as deputy to the new governor, Prince Faisal ibn
Khaled. In this role, he continues to manage a comprehensive
plan of development that aims for the economic, political,
and social transformation of Asir. He calls this plan "Abha
2030," and it codifies his old superior,s thirty-year
campaign to modernize the province.

DEVELOPING THE ECONOMY THROUGH TECHNOLOGY AND TOURISM


4. (S) Economically, Asir is stymied by its underdeveloped
workforce. The DG described plans to build more universities
to address the fact that most Asiris have only religious
educations and lack marketable skills. These universities
are meant to prepare students for information technology
careers and thereby bring high-tech jobs to the region. The
ultimate goal would be for Abha to become a "Silicon Valley"
within the Kingdom.


5. (S) Another economic pillar of Abha 2030 is the
development of Asir as a tourist destination. In addition to
mentioning plans for numerous five-star hotels, the DG
described a project to build an "International Village" in
the center of Abha featuring a house from every region of the
world and from all regions within the Kingdom. Each house
will showcase the culture and economy of its respective
region, educating locals and tourists about the world and
about Saudi Arabia. The DG stated that land in the center of
Abha has already been allocated for the International Village
and building has begun.

TRADITIONS PRESERVED, IF ONLY UNDER GLASS


6. (S) The tourism development plan also includes model
villages demonstrating the lifestyles of the ancient Asiris.
The CG accompanied the DG to one such village, Al Hanbala,
located at the bottom of a deep ravine. The village,
accessible today via a cable car, could until recently only
be reached by rope. The traditional villagers were not
constrained by Wahhabi precepts: the women did not veil and
the men wore Yemeni-style skirts and flowers in their hair,
an ancient practice which some scholars infer to have served
as a natural insect repellent. Some thirty years ago, Prince
Khaled evicted the village,s residents and forced them to
adopt Saudi customs, including the thobe for men and veil for
women. He set them up in a new, modern-style village at the
top of the ravine. Today, the original village exists only
as an exhibit for tourists.

JEDDAH 00000512 002 OF 002




7. (S) The CG had an opportunity to visit one of the original
inhabitants of the village, who showed her around his old
home, now part of the exhibit. The tiny dwelling was stuffed
with old everyday utensils, such as traditional cooking and
coffee pots, as well as some ancient photographs of villages
in their traditional (pre-Saudi) garb. (It was odd to see
the old man moving around what had been his house, now
displayed as a curiosity to strangers.) (COMMENT: The
eviction of the village is a good example of Prince Khaled,s
authoritarian style of development, which improves material
conditions while expunging local culture. END COMMENT.)

A POOR OUTLOOK FOR SAUDIZATION?


8. (S) In a previous meeting, Prince Khaled told the CG with
pride that all men from this village of educable age received
a college education, with three earning PhDs (reftel). In
his own meeting with the CG, Dr. Al-Khedheiri proudly
repeated this fact. This led to a discussion of Saudization,
the SAG,s policy of encouraging employment of Saudis to
displace the missions of expatriate workers presently living
in the Kingdom. The CG asked how this policy could be
reconciled with Asir,s educational reforms, given the
province,s high unemployment and the predominance of menial
jobs filled by expatriate workers. If Saudis are being
educated to qualify for high-skilled positions, why is the
SAG intent on also increasing their representation in
low-skilled occupations that most consider to be beneath
them? She also referred to what Asiri members of a women,s
employment center had told her on a previous visit to Abha,
i.e. that the only way Saudization would eventually work was
to replace expatriates with Saudi women, who "work hard," as
opposed to "Saudi men, who are lazy." To this the DG
responded that Saudization is a "dead letter" and unlikely
ever to gain traction. He added: "I wouldn,t want my son
to do menial labor or my daughter for that matter. Let the
foreigners continue to do that. They will be with us forever
but the key is to periodically ship them out and replace them
with new people, so they don,t put down roots in our
country." (COMMENT: This statement makes the DG the highest
known official to predict the failure of the Saudization
policy. END COMMENT.)

RELAXING THE RULES


9. (S) Politically, the Abha 2030 plan appears to be aimed
not at democratic reform but at bolstering support for the
royal family, although this latter goal may itself be
providing the impetus for social reforms meant to curb
Islamic fundamentalism. Changes include liberalized
education and the relaxing of social norms. For example, one
initiative to be announced will remove the current
restriction against men entering malls, and will also allow
them into the family sections of certain establishments.
This will obviate rules that are regularly circumvented: a
young man can currently pay a going rate of one hundred
riyals (about $30) to get a woman to act as his sister if his
presence is challenged by the roving mutawwa,in, or
religious police. The initiative will also introduce strict
penalties for harassing women in these newly accessible
places. Interestingly, Prince Khaled did not consult with
the King before drafting this reform and the DG said that
this reform will be introduced "without telling anybody else
outside of our region. That way, they will be faced with a
fait accompli."

A NEW PRINCE IN ABHA, A NEW PLAN IN JEDDAH


10. (S) When Prince Khaled left Abha in May to become
Governor of Mecca, his cousin Prince Faisal ibn Khaled
replaced him as Governor of Asir. It is too early to tell if
the new governor will reverse his predecessor,s reforms, but
so far he has continued the course. The CG has met several
times with Prince Faisal and has observed him to be eager but
young and unsure of himself, an assessment that was
corroborated by Dr. Al-Khedheiri. The DG confided to the CG
that he is not happy with the current situation, and is
secretly planning to move to Jeddah in six months, where he

SIPDIS
will work again for his beloved mentor, Prince Khaled, and
oversee a more ambitious version of the reforms he has
managed in Abha.
GFOELLER