Inter-Parliamentary Union - British Group - Parliamentary Delegation to Saudi Arabia


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Delegation Reports

Outward delegation to Saudi Arabia - 17 to 20 April 2006

Report by Ian Davidson MP

Delegation

Ian Davidson
Leader of the delegation
Labour

Huw Irranca-Davies MP
Labour

Lord Ahmed
Labour

Graham Brady
Conservative

Peter Viggers
Conservative

Lord Rogan
Crossbencher

A delegation of six visited Saudi Arabia to participate in the Two Kingdoms conference and have other meetings.
Thanks to the effectiveness of the embassy in setting up meetings around the conference, we were able to maximise the use of the 48 hours available.
We met the President and Chairman of the Majlis al-Shura, various Ministers, the Foreign Affairs and Saudi/British friendship committees of the Majlis and members of the National Dialogue Centre.
We visited the King Abdul Aziz Historical Centre and the British Council Common Ground exhibition; and attended a number of lunches, dinners and receptions. All of these were well attended by a large number of Majlis members, government officials, embassy staff and other delegates to the conference.
Those Saudis whom the delegation met were overwhelmingly from the elite of the highly educated and prosperous, with a clear desire to achieve political stability.
The overwhelming majority of our discussions centred upon how Saudi could develop, with a greater sharing of wealth and power in order to retain the loyalty of the population.
Given the enormously high percentage of young people - approximately 55 per cent of the population are under 20 - much discussion focused on how the economy could be diversified and developed to provide meaningful employment at acceptable wage levels for this population, to avoid their marginalisation and slide into extremism.
Apart from discussions on foreign affairs, particularly the Middle East, which were interesting but predictable, the vast majority of our discussions centred on these governance difficulties in Saudi Arabia.
Because the United Kingdom is held in high esteem, not only because of our historical involvement but also the present absence of any credible rivals for influence, there would appear to be unprecedented opportunities for various British agencies to play a constructive role.
Saudi Arabia needs assistance in diversifying its economy into industry and commerce, using off-set resources as appropriate. It also seeks assistance to develop a modern education and training framework, suitable to equip its young people for economic participation in a modern economy. They also seek assistance with the attitudinal change that will be necessary.
The Two Kingdoms conference appears to be one of the first public events where women were allowed to sit with men and participate in discussions as equals. This would appear to indicate the positive effect that linkages with British parliamentarians can have.
There are large differences between Saudi mores and our own, which will require a great deal of dialogue to overcome, but there is certainly considerable scope for showing how the British system works to members of the Majlis al-Shura (a blending of democratic centralism and the House of Lords) as part of an expansion of human links through culture, sport and politics.
Potentially there is an enormous role for British parliamentarians to play in assisting our Saudi colleagues as well as in promoting economic, educational and human links.