Conversation Partner Meeting 4

After each time Sari and I spoke with each other, the more we realized we had in common. Sari and I discussed our interests and respective backgrounds in interest heavily. It was unbelievably fascinating to hear how business in Saudi Arabia, specifically finance, operated differently than in America. Sari began by telling me that he was at TCU to earn his MBA, but he first needed to pass an intensive English test to gain admittance to the MBA program at TCU. Sari then elaborated on how a degree from an American university is highly regarded in Saudi Arabia. He said that while Saudis are familiar with some universities, basically any American university is far superior to the best college in Saudi Arabia, which I believe he attended. He stressed the difference in academic and testing rigor as some of the main differences. While I have always heard that American colleges are viewed as the best in the world, it makes a huge differences when you hear it from a newscaster or American media source versus someone from another country who can personally attest to the differences.

Personally, I find the high net worth families in Saudi Arabia to be one of the most interesting facets of their culture. When I asked about the King of Saudi Arabia and the family connection component of Saudi Arabia, I was shocked to hear that a prior King had created a scholarship program for the best students in Saudi Arabia to study abroad. Sari remarked that King Abdullah who instilled this program was one of the most generous and well regarded in recent memory. The main reasoning behind this program was due to a recognition of foreign universities offering more opportunities for educational development than the universities and the desire to grow and retain top Saudi Arabian talents. From what I understand, the government covers a substantial portion, if not all, of the educational expenses under the condition that the students return for a certain number of years to contribute their knowledge, increased pay, and talent to the local economy. The program seems to be working and helping with the concern of the large percentage of the workforce being foreign. The issue with the workforce is that it's difficult to find the proper talent for some jobs and educating Saudis abroad is a solution to the issue, while probably creating more long-term employment as most foreign employees probably do not spend their entire life in Saudi Arabia.

Sari's background in finance was interesting as he worked in the financial markets in some capacity for a high net worth family office. A family office is a an investment management company created to manage the assets of a wealthy family. Typically, family offices employ multiple analysts to diversify their holdings across various types of financial instruments, such as bonds and stocks. Sari mentioned that compensation for Americans in Saudi Arabia is typically at least 2x what they would receive in America, which I assume accounts for the specialized skill of the applicant and the added difficulty of moving to a foreign country. The lower cost of living and lower tax rate also gives an added bump to the relative pay. While all of that sounds nice in theory, I am not sure how I would adjust moving to a foreign country with different social norms, while knowing zero people in that country.


Links for the Saudi King Abdullah Scholarship Program:

http://susris.com/2012/07/30/king-abdullah-scholarship-program-the-saudi-arabian-educational-youth-stride/

http://www.sacm.org/ArabicSACM/pdf/education_web.pdf

http://monitor.icef.com/2012/02/enormous-saudi-scholarship-programme-in-the-spotlight/