Scott Baldauf
Scott Baldauf was our speaker on July 27. He is currently living and working in Saudi Arabia, and provided us with his personal observations about the country. Currently, 90% of economy in Saudi Arabia is the oil industry. The challenge when the oil is gone is vast. There are efforts to move to solar for some activities and country also trying find ways to grow other industries such as in chemicals and related manufacturing as Saudi Arabia needs to create jobs for its people. A lot of the people are open to these changes. The country is in the middle of political change and there is pressure to pay attention to the people and expand economy to create jobs. Currently 1/2 of the population is under 25 and 2/3rds is under 29. The question is will the young people remain patient for the needed job growth and whether the kingdom, which is ruled by a family with over 1300 members and divergent views, can change in time.