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Saudi King Abdullah has said that Riyadh will proceed with economic reforms, Arab News reported Jan. 21. In a speech, read aloud on the king’s behalf by Riyadh Gov. Prince Salman at the opening of the Second Global Competitiveness Forum on Jan. 20, King Abdullah said that $1.87 billion had been allocated to judicial reforms and $2.93 billion to reform the education system. The king emphasized that his government is working to create the infrastructure to enhance the Saudi private sector and attract greater foreign investment, and that providing job opportunities to Saudi men and women after training them is a major priority for the government. Meanwhile, Arabic language daily Al Watan reported Jan. 21 that the government issued an order allowing women to stay in hotels alone.
Under King Abdullah — not only during his reign since 2005 but during the previous decade when he was crown prince and de facto ruler — Saudi Arabia has seen considerable political and social reforms, particularly in the wake of the 9/11 attacks and the jihadist insurgency that peaked during 2003-04. The process of politico-economic reform, however, has now reached a stage where any further progress cannot take place without changes to the Saudi social fabric. Social change in the kingdom is, to put it very mildly, an extremely messy affair, because the Saudi state has adhered to the ultra-conservative Salafi-Wahhabi sect of Sunni Islam for more than two and half centuries.
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