Our Godfathers Haj and Umrah are major components of the Saudi tourism industry, attracting millions of Muslims who come to the Kingdom every year. The Kingdom annually earns over US $20 billion from Haj and Umrah. The modern-day Hajj and Umra has turned into big business. Saudi Arabia has undertaken an effort in recent years to build more luxury hotels and services catering to the Muslim faithful who flock to Mecca each year, and as a result, many pilgrims are spending more than ever before. The large Hajj and Umrah market also ensures the sale of Saudi products, which includes gift items. Saudi products hit up to US $250 million in sales each year. Around two million foreign pilgrims performed Haj in 2014, including some two hundred thousand from Pakistan. Possessing 17% of the worlds proven petroleum reserves, it ranks as the largest exporter of petroleum. Saudi Arabia’s total oil revenues for 2013 from the petroleum sector were US $ 274 billion. While money is constantly pouring in, the Saudi royal family spends billions out of it on extravagant vacations in Europe and North America. In May 2013, Saudi prince Fahd Al-Saud son of ex-King Fahad bin Abdul Aziz spent 15 million euros ($20.41 million) for three days of fun at Disneyland near Paris to celebrate his degree. His father, namely, Fahd bin Abdul Aziz was known for his extravagant vacations in Spain’s Costa del Sol. The posh resort town of Marbella is where he built his palace named “Mar Mar”, and each year for a month or more he would stay there. Luxury villas and hundreds of rooms in five-star hotels are reserved every year for the prince’ entourage, and anywhere between ninety to three hundred million dollars are spent by the royal family on the vacation. Other powerful Saudi royals can be seen living it up on the French Riviera. They fly on private jets, buy the finest jewels and dine at exclusive restaurants. Saudi prince Al Walid bin Talal has summered in Cannes for the last thirty years, and owns a 281 foot yacht called the Kingdom that he bought from Donald Trump. The yacht comes complete with a disco studio and helicopter. Saudi royalty has property in most countries in the world including Pakistan where they have built huge walled compounds for themselves in which they do as they please. They visit the area once a year, usually during the hunting season. Their excesses know no bounds. Similarly, the Saudi Arabian defence industry is estimated to have the fourth largest defence budget in the world, behind the US, China, and Russia. Valued at US$52.9 billion in 2013, the countrys defence expenditure, specifically for air-power capabilities in support of Kingdom’s protection is placed seventh among the top 10 military spenders, and is expected to increase at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 7.92%, to reach US$77.3 billion by 2018. While all this goes on, 20 per cent of the population of Saudi Arabia is under poverty line. Few hundred yards beyond the luxurious shopping malls and recreation centres of Riyadh, the beggars are searching for food, and a few miles farther, residents in slum houses in poor neighbourhoods of southern Riyadh grapple with poverty to live. The money obtained from pilgrims who visit to perform Haj and Umra and oil sales is also spent on sponsoring terrorism all over the world. Saudi Arabia is said to be the worlds largest source of funds for Salafi jihadist terrorist militant groups, such as al-Qaeda, the Afghan Taliban, and Lashkar-e-Taiba in South Asia, and donors in Saudi Arabia constitute the most significant source of funding to terrorist groups worldwide. Waseem Altaf
Posted on: Sat, 24 Jan 2015 15:23:53 +0000
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