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Prince Abdulaziz Bin Salman… The Oil Diplomat

Prince Abdulaziz Bin Salman… The Oil Diplomat
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Prince Abdulaziz Bin Salman… The Oil Diplomat

Prince Abdulaziz Bin Salman… The Oil Diplomat

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) has known many highly qualified ministers and technocrats, but very few people knew how to assume a high diplomatic role in which political cards are mixed with the technical vision.

Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman, who was named as energy minister this month, is one of the most prominent oil diplomats in OPEC history. With his appointment, Prince Abdulaziz became the sixth minister in the history of Saudi Arabia to receive the oil file, after Abdullah al-Tariki, Ahmed Zaki Yamani, Hisham Nazer, Ali al-Nuaimi, and Khaled al-Falih.

Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman is the fourth son of King Salman bin Abdulaziz, after Princes Fahd, Sultan, and Ahmed. Since the 1980s, he has been active in the Energy ministry and has been a steady member of the Saudi delegation to OPEC.

In many situations, he was the “link” between the oil world and the higher authorities in the Kingdom, and in others, he was the mediator between the various OPEC countries.

“He was born into power, he understands power — when to use it and when not to use it,” said OPEC Secretary-General Mohammad Barkindo.

Prince Abdulaziz has always worked with clear diplomacy behind the scenes. But everyone who worked at OPEC knew what role he assumed.

He signed many achievements during his previous career with the Ministry of Petroleum (now Energy).

For example, he was part of the Kingdom’s negotiating delegation to join the World Trade Organization. One of the prince’s most notable achievements was the National Energy Conservation Campaign, which managed to move stagnating water to save Saudi oil, which was burned in terrible quantities every year.

The prince devoted most of his time to this campaign since 2013. Many accomplishments were made within its framework, including eliminating non-energy-saving air conditioners, setting strict requirements for the import of electrical appliances, and changing the specifications of cars imported by the Kingdom to be more fuel-efficient.

At OPEC, Prince Abdulaziz is popular with delegations and dozens of journalists who meet him constantly.

“People abroad do not realize unfortunately that when the princes enter the Ministry of Petroleum, they take off their ‘Bisht’ (cloak) and work like everyone else; they are the same as other employees. Hadn't we worked hard, the Saudi oil industry would not have been a leader now,” Prince Abdulaziz said in one of the occasions.

Apart from oil diplomacy, who is Prince Abdulaziz? How did his journey begin with oil?

In 1987, Prince Abdulaziz received a call from Minister Hisham Nazer, who had succeeded Sheikh Ahmed Zaki Yamani in late 1986. He asked him to join him in the ministry.

“I was very happy when the minister called me, but I was on vacation,” Prince Abdulaziz said. “I was newly married at the time and hesitated a lot to end my vacation and join the minister. But I found all the support from my wife and decided to cut off the leave and join the delegation,” he recounted.

Before joining the ministry, the prince was active in the academic world. He lived in the Eastern Province, where he headed the Department of Economic and Industrial Studies at King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals in Dhahran.

Prince Abdulaziz’s career in the ministry began in 1987 as an adviser to the minister, a position he held until 1995 when he was appointed as Undersecretary for Petroleum Affairs. In May 2004, a royal order was issued appointing him as senior assistant minister of petroleum affairs. He remained in office until he became deputy minister and then minister of state for energy.

Prince Abdulaziz is also an active member of the Board of Governors of the Oxford Institute for Energy Studies in Britain and the International Association for Energy Economics in Washington, DC.

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Syria's Economy Reborn after Being Freed from Assad

Under Assad, Syria was under heavy economic sanctions and mired in seemingly endless crisis - AFP
Under Assad, Syria was under heavy economic sanctions and mired in seemingly endless crisis - AFP
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Syria's Economy Reborn after Being Freed from Assad

Under Assad, Syria was under heavy economic sanctions and mired in seemingly endless crisis - AFP
Under Assad, Syria was under heavy economic sanctions and mired in seemingly endless crisis - AFP

When Bashar al-Assad ruled Syria, merchants like Youssef Rajab kept much of their imported stock hidden for fear of arrest for breaking the law.

But after opposition factions toppled Assad in a lightning offensive last month, Rajab put previously banned foreign goods such as chocolate, biscuits and shampoo back on the shelf.

Such products are now openly on sale in Damascus, and foreign currency is once again traded without fear.
Under Assad, Syria was mired in corruption, under heavy economic sanctions, and in seemingly endless crisis.
Foreign currency was in carefully controlled supply, and engaging in its trade or in the sale of banned goods could have meant a stay in one of the country's notorious jails.

"A day after the regime fell, I brought out all the foreign merchandise I'd been hiding and put it for sale, without having to worry," Rajab told AFP.

"It was a strange feeling, but I was happy," added the 23-year-old, speaking beside shelves stacked with imported products.

Previously, the few imported goods that were available were smuggled in from Lebanon by traders who risked arrest, or were acquired by bribing officials as businessmen controlled imports to a country wracked by 13 years of civil war.

"It's true that now we have great freedom to engage in business, but it has also been chaotic," said Rajab.

On every street corner, makeshift money changers now tout for business from passers-by.

"It's a job that was done in secret before," said Amir Halimeh, sitting at a small table on which there were wads of Syrian pounds and US dollars.

"We used to refer to dollars as 'mint' or 'parsley' or something else green" to bypass surveillance, he added.

- Currency market 'freed' -

Assad's government kept a firm grip on foreign currency dealings as a way to control the economy, and any freelance operators faced punishment of seven years in prison and a heavy fine.

"The market has now been completely freed... as has the exchange rate," the moneychanger said.

The pound lost about 90 percent of its value against the US dollar in 2011, the year Syria descended into civil war after a brutal crackdown on democracy protests.

Now it is being traded at between 11,000 and 12,000 to the greenback.

Before Damascus fell to the coalition led by the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham group, the black market rate soared to 30,000 pounds for one dollar.

"The economy in the future Syria will be free and competitive," the interim government's Economy Minister Bassel Abdel Hanan told reporters.

He said the new authorities would implement "policies aimed at protecting domestic output, supporting the industrial sector and protecting agriculture".

They have yet to elaborate on their future economic plans during the three-month interim phase that began in December.

Economics professor Adnan Suleiman of Damascus University said that "the economic model that existed before the fall of the regime... was a market economy", but a "distorted" one.

- Sanctions -

"Supply and demand were not free. Instead of competition there was a monopoly," he said of people close to Assad who controlled different sectors of the economy.

In an effort to turn the page, the interim government has been lobbying for international sanctions to be lifted.

Earlier this month, the US Treasury Department announced it was providing additional sanctions relief on some activities for the next six months to ease access to basic services, including fuel and humanitarian aid.

Asaad al-Shaibani, Syria's top diplomat, told the World Economic Forum in Davos on Wednesday: "Removing economic sanctions is the key for the stability of Syria."

They had been imposed for the benefit of Syrians, but are now "against the Syrian people", he said.

"We inherited a collapsed state from the Assad regime, there is no economic system," Shaibani said, adding that "the economy in the future will be open".

Under Assad, fuel sales were a monopoly and were severely limited.

But now vendors openly sell cans of petrol and fuel oil on the streets of the capital -- where new models of car have also made an appearance.

Previously, the import of vehicles was tightly regulated.

Syria's war took a terrible toll not only on the people, but also on its infrastructure.

Damage to power plants and pipelines has caused power cuts lasting up to 20 hours a day.

"The former regime left a huge legacy," said Suleiman.

"The greatest task facing future governments is to finance development and reconstruction."