Established during the government of former Prime Minister Sir Edward Heath (1970-1974), the center aimed to create a thinktank to help the prime minister have a better understanding of the ministries’ plans and projects, and link them to the state’s long -term future strategy. Here I also met Kenneth Peril, who oversaw the center’s uniquely structured, interdisciplinary, and multidisciplinary membership, comprising ministers, advisors, and experts in economics, politics, sociology, and environmental affairs. Within the center e xists a most intriguing unit, internally known as ‘the kitchen’. Just as a kitchen where nutritional guidelines are set, diets are formed, and dishes are prepared to provide nourishment, this unit was where policies were developed and set. Members of this ‘kitchen’ – the ‘chefs’ – were very carefully selected. There were representatives from every major ministry, generally from middle-management who had experience with different administrations, possessed valuable knowledge of the goings-on in their ministries, and had all-around outstanding capabilities and work performances. These representatives were seconded to the center for about two years, and made up the group that really gave the ‘kitchen’ its positi ve reputation. Responsible for analyzing and studying issues in depth, they came up with the ‘recipes’ for the major policy issues of the day. In 1977, inspired by what I witnessed at the center, I brought the idea of establishing a similar unit in the Kingdom with the late King Khalid bin Abdulaziz, in a letter I personally presented to him in Taif. In the ride with the King and my uncle Prince Saad bin Mohammad on the way to Al-Dikkah, the King’s private evening resort, I explained the contents of my letter and how important it was for us to have a center coordinating the various ministerial plans. He agreed, saying: “My boy, you really have a point there. It seems like every day, new trenches are dug for water, electricity, and telephone lines, with no coordination at all among different ministries! ” I reiterated the need to develop a center to come up with strategies and solutions, like the thinktanks in Britain, and the King said: “So are you saying that we don’t think?” A moment later he added: “Mayb e you are right. Allah has blessed us with wealt h, but perhaps let’s still plan for the next 10 or 20 years. Keep in mind, though, that there are others who will argue for us to use this new wealth to do what we have not been able to do over the past 10 or 20 years.” I took King Khalid’s point to mean that, at that stage, building the Kingdom’s infrastructure was more pertinent than the need to develop and train its human capital. This order of priorities can be confirmed with the high volume of construction-centric projects between 1975 and 1985, when migrant workers came to the Kingdom in large numbers for work. Saudi Equestrianism In 1989 a young Saudi equestrian approached King Abdullah about representing the Kingdom at the 1992 Olympic Games in Spain. King Abdullah was an Arabian horse enthusiast and he tasked me with making this happen. I was happy to volunteer to set up the Saudi Arabian Equestrian and Archery Federation (now known as the Saudi Arabian Equestrian Federation). Equestrianism is not merely a sport, particularly for the inhabitants of the Arabian Peninsula, home to the purebred Arabian horse. It is also, in many ways, a part of the culture, and with this outlook, I took on the initiative to support the Kingdom’s youth in their equestrian interests. Saudi equestrianism would later become the country’s ‘golden sport’, and our riders would go on to win top prizes in competitions across the world, all in record time. [6]
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