and approved the building of 500, 000 housing units in all regions of the kingdom over the coming five years with allocations of rls 250 billion. the limit of housing loans extended by the real estate development fund was increased from rls 300, 000 to rls 500, 000 which will hopefully provide more houses for citizens and constrain the inflationary pressures stemming from the increase in house rents. you also ordered setting a minimum wage of rls 3, 000 for all saudi government employees, allocated a monthly amount of rls 2, 000 for job seekers, and raised capital of the saudi credit and saving bank by rls 30 billion. the number of family members covered by the social security was increased from 8 to 15 with an allocation of rls one billion for that purpose. the government subsidies for charity associations rose by 50 percent to rls 450 million annually, and needy families ’ sons and daughters were supported to join bis central bankers ’ speeches universities through allotting them a portion of seats, facilitating their admission requirements, and exempting them from some tuition fees. this package of honorable royal decrees will enhance the standard of living of the least - income segment of population and promote its ability of saving and, thereby, raise its future productivity and income, and reduce poverty, to which you always attach considerable attention. in the health care arena, you ordered supporting the ministry of health with rls 16 billion in order to carry out the expansion of a number of hospitals and health centers. you increased the maximum limit of the ministry of finance ’ s financing program of private hospitals from rls 50 million to rls 200 million. this would hopefully enhance health care services in the kingdom. under your wise leadership and continuous guidance, the supreme economic council continued to accomplish a number of development steps aimed at restructuring and reorganizing the economy and streamlining regulations and legislation in order to promote the rise of the level and competitiveness of the economy, achieve the optimum operation of the production factors and provide an attractive environment for domestic and foreign investment. as a result, the investment environment has improved. according to the “ doing business report 2012 ” issued by the world bank, the kingdom ranked twelfth among 183 world countries in terms of ease of business performance. the executive board of the international monetary fund noted that the kingdom was well posed to encounter the global financial crisis. however, the sound supervisory and regulatory frameworks significantly contributed to strengthening the capacity of the financial sector to withstand the crisis. the board stressed that

hamad al - sayari : financial planning and wealth management in saudi arabia speech by his excellency hamad al - sayari, governor of the saudi arabian monetary agency, on the occasion of the graduation of the 7th and 8th batches of the financial planning program and the 2nd and 3rd batches of the wealth management program, riyadh, 17 january 2007. * * * dear audience, i am really glad on this blessed day to be with you in this happy occasion to celebrate the graduation of the 7th and 8th batches of the personal financial planning program, and the 2nd and 3rd batches of the wealth management program. in pursuance of its key role in developing the banking and financial sector, sama has been very keen to develop human resources in all financial and banking specializations. to this end, sama has made many initiatives. it has instructed the iob to conduct a comprehensive study on the investment sector to determine the professional and educational criteria that must be satisfied by personnel involved in the various areas of investment. the findings of the study have showed that all staff working in investment and financial intermediation should have certain basic knowledge and skills in these fields. to meet these needs, the iob designed scientific subjects and standardized tests on the basics of investment and stock trading. moreover, the findings have indicated that banks ’ customers are in need of persons specialized in offering financial advisory services. therefore, the iob has worked on developing two programs, namely, • personal financial planning program. • wealth management program. these two programs have been designed according to the latest international scientific standards. they have been designed after the model of capabilities required in a successful and professional financial planner and wealth manager. a number of members of the training staff in the institute of banking have participated in this process, and experts have also been hired from prestigious universities and educational institutions outside the kingdom. as a result of this model, more than ten programs in financial planning and four programs in wealth management have been carried out. the programs have been commended by saudi banks. dear attendance, management of investment operations requires specialists enjoying necessary knowledge, required skills, and professional conduct. the role of a financial advisor has gained more importance, and it should be practiced by qualified professionals who care, in the first place, for the interests of their customers who have put their confidence in them, and they should comply with the application of the policies of the supervisory authorities and financial institutions to which they belong. the importance of transparency and