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A Conversation on Supply Chain Industrialization and Economic Resilience

Speakers:
H.E. Khalid Al-Falih, Minister of Investment, Ministry of Investment of Saudi Arabia
Andrew N. Liveris AO, Former Chairman & CEO, DOW Chemical Company; Concordia Leadership Council Member

We are in the midst of Globalization 2.0, explained Andrew N. Liveris AO, Former Chairman & CEO of DOW Chemical Company and Concordia Leadership Council Member. Taking a view from Saudi Arabia, H.E. Khalid Al-Falih, Minister of Investment of Saudi Arabia, noted that the Kingdom has benefited from globalization but that in our global haste, we have gotten ahead of ourselves. Instead of building slack into systems, we have stressed them and are now seeing vulnerabilities due to COVID-19 and global geopolitics. These disruptions affect energy, food, and security, Liveris said. Al-Falih concurred, explaining Saudi Arabia’s efforts to diversify its economy and onshore some of its global supply chain.

Pushing on the idea that the Kingdom is moving beyond hydrocarbons, Al-Falih highlighted efforts to improve infrastructure, digital competitiveness, and cost competitiveness. He promoted the idea of Saudi Arabia as a friendly investment environment in which to make predictable and bankable investments. Vision 2030 is helping to provide a road map for these changes, investing in projects that do not yet have customers to proactively anticipate the world’s future needs.

Key takeaways & next steps:

  • Globalization has been too much of a good thing, stressing our systems beyond capacity. Resilience needs to be a bigger priority.
  • Saudi Arabia has taken this lesson to heart, investing trillions of dollars into futureproofing their economy and creating an attractive environment for potential investors.

“Globalization has evolved over many decadesso much at one point, that we stressed the global system of manufacturing and trade, which came to light with COVID.”

 

H.E. Khalid Al-Falih, Minister of Investment, Ministry of Investment of Saudi Arabia

“How do you actually build supply chains that are trust based and also sold for national security?”

 

Andrew N. Liveris AO, Former Chairman & CEO, DOW Chemical Company; Concordia Leadership Council Member