美国国家公共电台 NPR Businesses In Saudi Arabia Struggle With Changing Regulations

 

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

It's said that many businesspeople prize stability. No matter the taxes or regulations they face, there's a case to be made for keeping the rules that your business already knows. Business owners in Saudi Arabia do not have that luxury. The Saudi crown prince has decreed a dramatic shift in the economy, inviting¹ outside investment and relying on more than oil. In principle, this could be good in the long term. In practice, there's a lot of pain in the short term. NPR's Jackie Northam visited a mall in the capital city.

JACKIE NORTHAM, BYLINE²: If you're in need of any computer accessories or cell phone help while you're in Riyadh, you want to come to the Mobile Market Center. It's a two-story mall with shops selling all kinds of gadgetry³. We popped into a small cell phone accessory shop, where we're offered a cup of Saudi coffee and some dates by the owner.

ABU SAUD: My name is Abu Saud.

NORTHAM: Abu Saud owns three shops in this mall. He was a happy man, and business was good until the Saudi government told him to replace his foreign workers - usually South Asians who are skilled at fixing cell phones - with Saudi workers. But they didn't last long in his shops.

SAUD: For me, I give them very high salary. But the problem - they didn't like.

NORTHAM: Abu Saud says Saudis are used to jobs in a government office.

SAUD: Each one - he liked to have a table. He's a boss - even he just graduated. He just - he want to be a boss - direct.

NORTHAM: Soon, many other types of retail⁴ outlets⁵ will also be required to only hire Saudi workers. It's causing a lot of problems for businesses, says this accountant. NPR is not using his name, so he could speak freely.

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: During the last year, we have seen a lot of small and medium entities⁶ going of business because they cannot afford it.

NORTHAM: The accountant agrees Saudi Arabia needs to reform its economy. But the changes should be made slower, more carefully.

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: I mean, in my office, every day I get new regulation either from the minister of commerce or minister of finance or the tax department. Everyone is changing their own regulations and the bylaws.

NORTHAM: The changes are part of a sweeping⁷ plan to wean the kingdom off its dependency on oil revenues and create jobs, especially for young Saudis. About three-quarters of the population is under 30 years old.

JOHN SFAKIANAKIS: So I think this is very welcoming because the old Saudi Arabia - to be honest, the system was not viable⁸. The country was going to collapse⁹.

NORTHAM: John Sfakianakis, with the Gulf¹⁰ Research Center in Riyadh, says the plan, called Vision 2030, is being driven by the kingdom's 32-year-old Crown Prince Mohammed bin¹¹ Salman.

SFAKIANAKIS: Today, you have a very young crown prince who is ambitious, who needs to push the envelope. Why? Because demand is changing for oil. Technology is changing. Saudi Arabia needs to be part of that. And Saudi Arabia doesn't have time.

NORTHAM: For decades, oil helped Saudi's royal family keep a compact with the population. Saudis would be taken care of - free health care and education through college, cheap utilities and gasoline, often a government job and, until recently, no taxes. In return, they did not challenge the royal family's absolute rule. But a slump¹² in oil prices since 2014 and a rapidly growing population has stretched the kingdom's budget. Bernard Haykel, a Saudi Arabia specialist at Princeton University, says now Crown Prince Mohammed wants to change the compact.

BERNARD HAYKEL: He's saying that, you know, we are no longer able to afford this nanny state that provided everything to the people. And so the terms of the social contract have to be renegotiated.

NORTHAM: The crown prince is sweetening the deal - loosening the ban on cinemas and concerts, allowing women to drive and go to work. Now you see Saudi women working in malls and at hotel receptions, unheard of until a few months ago. And he also organized the now-famous Ritz Carlton roundup.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

NORTHAM: The lobby of the Ritz Carlton Hotel in Riyadh is opulent, with marble floors, plush furniture and rich tapestries¹³. In November, the crown prince rounded up a couple hundred of Saudi Arabia's wealthiest and most influential¹⁴ people and brought them to the Ritz, where they were detained for three months until they handed over more than $100 billion. There were cries that it was an unlawful crackdown on the crown prince's royal rivals and that it could scare off investors¹⁵. But economist¹⁶ Motashar al-Murshed says the move was hugely popular with regular Saudis.

MOTASHAR AL-MURSHED: This move is done for the benefit of the Saudi population, for the Saudi economy and for making the Vision possible.

NORTHAM: In other words, if regular Saudis are going to feel the pinch of the new reforms in the kingdom, the richest ones will, too. Jackie Northam, NPR News, Riyadh.

(SOUNDBITE OF HIJAZ'S "NAHADIN")

1 inviting   

adj.诱人的，引人注目的

参考例句：

• An inviting smell of coffee wafted into the room.一股诱人的咖啡香味飘进了房间。
• The kitchen smelled warm and inviting and blessedly familiar.这间厨房的味道温暖诱人，使人感到亲切温馨。

2 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

3 gadgetry   

n.小机械，小器具

参考例句：

• His desk is covered with electronic gadgetry. 他的书桌上摆满了各种电子装置。
• Then why not just take back all your fancy gadgetry? 那你怎么不把这堆玩意给我撤了？ 来自电影对白

4 retail   

v./n.零售；adv.以零售价格

参考例句：

• In this shop they retail tobacco and sweets.这家铺子零售香烟和糖果。
• These shoes retail at 10 yuan a pair.这些鞋子零卖10元一双。

5 outlets   

n.出口( outlet的名词复数 )；经销店；插座；廉价经销店

参考例句：

• The dumping of foreign cotton blocked outlets for locally grown cotton. 外国棉花的倾销阻滞了当地生产的棉花的销路。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• They must find outlets for their products. 他们必须为自己的产品寻找出路。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

6 entities   

实体对像； 实体，独立存在体，实际存在物( entity的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Our newspaper and our printing business form separate corporate entities. 我们的报纸和印刷业形成相对独立的企业实体。
• The North American continent is made up of three great structural entities. 北美大陆是由三个构造单元组成的。

7 sweeping   

adj.范围广大的，一扫无遗的

参考例句：

• The citizens voted for sweeping reforms.公民投票支持全面的改革。
• Can you hear the wind sweeping through the branches?你能听到风掠过树枝的声音吗？

8 viable   

adj.可行的，切实可行的，能活下去的

参考例句：

• The scheme is economically viable.这个计划从经济效益来看是可行的。
• The economy of the country is not viable.这个国家经济是难以维持的。

9 collapse   

vi.累倒；昏倒；倒塌；塌陷

参考例句：

• The country's economy is on the verge of collapse.国家的经济已到了崩溃的边缘。
• The engineer made a complete diagnosis of the bridge's collapse.工程师对桥的倒塌做了一次彻底的调查分析。

10 gulf   

n.海湾；深渊，鸿沟；分歧，隔阂

参考例句：

• The gulf between the two leaders cannot be bridged.两位领导人之间的鸿沟难以跨越。
• There is a gulf between the two cities.这两座城市间有个海湾。

11 bin   

n.箱柜；vt.放入箱内；[计算机] DOS文件名:二进制目标文件

参考例句：

• He emptied several bags of rice into a bin.他把几袋米倒进大箱里。
• He threw the empty bottles in the bin.他把空瓶子扔进垃圾箱。

12 slump   

n.暴跌，意气消沉，（土地）下沉；vi.猛然掉落，坍塌，大幅度下跌

参考例句：

• She is in a slump in her career.她处在事业的低谷。
• Economists are forecasting a slump.经济学家们预言将发生经济衰退。

13 tapestries   

n.挂毯( tapestry的名词复数 )；绣帷，织锦v.用挂毯（或绣帷）装饰( tapestry的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• The wall of the banqueting hall were hung with tapestries. 宴会厅的墙上挂有壁毯。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The rooms were hung with tapestries. 房间里都装饰着挂毯。 来自《简明英汉词典》

14 influential   

adj.有影响的，有权势的

参考例句：

• He always tries to get in with the most influential people.他总是试图巴结最有影响的人物。
• He is a very influential man in the government.他在政府中是个很有影响的人物。

15 investors   

n.投资者，出资者( investor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a con man who bilked investors out of millions of dollars 诈取投资者几百万元的骗子
• a cash bonanza for investors 投资者的赚钱机会

16 economist   

n.经济学家，经济专家，节俭的人

参考例句：

• He cast a professional economist's eyes on the problem.他以经济学行家的眼光审视这个问题。
• He's an economist who thinks he knows all the answers.他是个经济学家，自以为什么都懂。