An open letter to Middle East's business men and investors
I don’t understand till when the gap will be allowed to continue on growing and becoming harder and harder to close. Thanks to its deposits of natural resources the middle east region is one of the richest regions in the world, some might say it’s just luck, some others will say it’s a blessing from God but that’s not the point here, this valuable asset will not last forever and NOW is the time to do something about it before it’s too late.
The region is lagging behind in all sorts of forms and ways, the west is obviously by far ahead since centuries, and the east is by far ahead well since as of now, except for Japan.
Korea, Malaysia, Taiwan, China, India are on the rise, economical powers that will set new rules in the international scene for the upcoming century.
The middle east is not better than the worst African countries, except in its ability to buy and import because it has natural resources to get money and buy, so I guess it’s time to stop investing any further in silicon enhanced girls for video clips, it was fun but what’s been done is enough and there’s no need to expand it any further. It’s time to invest in sectors that can put the region on the international map, that can create and contribute to the advancement of humanity, and that can characterize a civilization.
Briefly, here are the sectors that need immediate attention, and lots of money injection:
- Renewable energy production and energy storage, it’s the future of human kind. The Middle East region can export the sun it has if it works hard on developing the technology for it, green energy solutions will be the next big thing, Middle Easterns have to put a foot in this field before it’s too late.
We still don’t have a reliable mean to store energy, fuel cells are still an immature technology, a lot of work is still needed, it’s about time that someone in the middle east starts working on getting involved in this technology. The middle east rules the energy sector today, and it’s a strategic interest for everyone in it to remain so in 50 years from now.
- Robotics, electronics, artificial intelligence. Korea, Malaysia, India, China, they were not better than the middle east 30 years ago, now they’re by far ahead. So it’s about time that someone starts having an interest in those fields in order to start a proper industrialization and a proper viable and sustainable economy in the region.
- Telecommunications and informatics, the region is home to the biggest and richest operators but does anyone of them get an interest in establishing a research center? The answer is an emphatic NO! And I fail to understand why. Such centers can be of great economical interest to these companies too, if they had their eyes opened in the last 5 years they could’ve ridden the 4G wave imposing their own technology and breaking new grounds with it; unfortunately everyone in the region is happy to be an ignorant stupid consumer who pays a lot to import and to stupidly implement what’s been created in the east and west.
Same thing applies to information technology, so we use twitter and facebook and that makes us technologically advanced? What did the region contribute to this sector? Merely nothing, no serious activity is being done. This should be changed.
It’s very important that all the investors and business men in the Middle East understand that the time when we felt technology and creativity were out of our hands dates back to the colonial era, because now we are able to do, we are able to create and we are able to blaze trails in grounds where no one has been before. We have world class researchers working around the world, we have the knowledge, the expertise, but what lacks is the vision, the strategic decision, the intention to make this shift to the future. So enough with the investments in video clips, and enough with the western financial markets, enough with the empty skyscrapers that are home for no one but ghosts, it’s time for you to stop being a bunch of cowards, put your money where the serious stuff is. And hey, you won’t regret it.
The region is lagging behind in all sorts of forms and ways, the west is obviously by far ahead since centuries, and the east is by far ahead well since as of now, except for Japan.
Korea, Malaysia, Taiwan, China, India are on the rise, economical powers that will set new rules in the international scene for the upcoming century.
The middle east is not better than the worst African countries, except in its ability to buy and import because it has natural resources to get money and buy, so I guess it’s time to stop investing any further in silicon enhanced girls for video clips, it was fun but what’s been done is enough and there’s no need to expand it any further. It’s time to invest in sectors that can put the region on the international map, that can create and contribute to the advancement of humanity, and that can characterize a civilization.
Briefly, here are the sectors that need immediate attention, and lots of money injection:
- Renewable energy production and energy storage, it’s the future of human kind. The Middle East region can export the sun it has if it works hard on developing the technology for it, green energy solutions will be the next big thing, Middle Easterns have to put a foot in this field before it’s too late.
We still don’t have a reliable mean to store energy, fuel cells are still an immature technology, a lot of work is still needed, it’s about time that someone in the middle east starts working on getting involved in this technology. The middle east rules the energy sector today, and it’s a strategic interest for everyone in it to remain so in 50 years from now.
- Robotics, electronics, artificial intelligence. Korea, Malaysia, India, China, they were not better than the middle east 30 years ago, now they’re by far ahead. So it’s about time that someone starts having an interest in those fields in order to start a proper industrialization and a proper viable and sustainable economy in the region.
- Telecommunications and informatics, the region is home to the biggest and richest operators but does anyone of them get an interest in establishing a research center? The answer is an emphatic NO! And I fail to understand why. Such centers can be of great economical interest to these companies too, if they had their eyes opened in the last 5 years they could’ve ridden the 4G wave imposing their own technology and breaking new grounds with it; unfortunately everyone in the region is happy to be an ignorant stupid consumer who pays a lot to import and to stupidly implement what’s been created in the east and west.
Same thing applies to information technology, so we use twitter and facebook and that makes us technologically advanced? What did the region contribute to this sector? Merely nothing, no serious activity is being done. This should be changed.
It’s very important that all the investors and business men in the Middle East understand that the time when we felt technology and creativity were out of our hands dates back to the colonial era, because now we are able to do, we are able to create and we are able to blaze trails in grounds where no one has been before. We have world class researchers working around the world, we have the knowledge, the expertise, but what lacks is the vision, the strategic decision, the intention to make this shift to the future. So enough with the investments in video clips, and enough with the western financial markets, enough with the empty skyscrapers that are home for no one but ghosts, it’s time for you to stop being a bunch of cowards, put your money where the serious stuff is. And hey, you won’t regret it.
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