Due to rising inflation, the Saudi government replaced its Minister for Commerce & Industry in an abrupt shake-up. The newly appointed Minister is Abdullah Alireza, former head of the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce & Industry and a Cabinet Minister without Portfolio. He is held in deep respect by Saudi businessmen as well as the thousands of Jeddawis touched by his philanthropy.

Arab News is pretty pleased with his appointment:

Editorial: Encouraging Sign

The appointment of Abdullah ibn Ahmed Zainal Alireza as commerce and industry minister was wholly unexpected but it is an encouraging development. Alireza is probably the most experienced person in the country for the job. A fervent deregulator and reformer with a reputation for new ideas and getting things done, he comes from one of the leading Jeddah merchant families, has served as chairman of the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry, has been a Cabinet minister without portfolio, an adviser to the Supreme Economic Council, helped negotiate Saudi Arabia’s accession to the World Trade Organization and for the past five years acted as a roving trade ambassador.

Although very approachable, he neither surrounds himself with yes men nor is he afraid to mince words. Last year, when in the US, he went out of his way to meet New Jersey Rep. Mike Ferguson, who in addition to being a member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee which oversees foreign trade is also a fervent champion of Israel and virulent critic of the Kingdom. There had never been a meeting like it before. Just last month, he could be heard telling an audience in Florida that Saudi Arabia has “an obligation to tell our friend what we feel about parts of America that became drunk on muscular power.”
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