A Model in Privatization: Successful Change Management in the Ports of Saudi Arabia

Over the past four years, the operation of Saudi Arabia’s ports has been successfully transferred to the private sector, boosting efficiency and triggering a surge of investment in the country’s ports network, the biggest in the Middle East. Already this program has transformed port performance, raising productivity, bringing in more than USUSD1 billion of private sector investment, and significantly increasing net revenues from the ports to the Government. In this book, Mohammed Bakr, Director-General of the Saudi Arabian Ports Authority, describes the unique model devised to deliver the desired benefits of privatization, while protecting the interests of both the public sector and the national workforce. Insights gained from being at the heart of the decision-making process have enabled Mohammed Bakr to produce an illuminating account of privatization in practice. As a result, this is a book which sets out many useful lessons applicable to situations in a wide range of industries. In particular, the demonstration that effective privatization does not necessitate the sale of state assets, is one that should command the attention of informed readers in various Western countries. This and much else in the book recommends it as required reading for policy-makers in both the developed and developing worlds.