沙特阿拉伯眼下一團糟 改革被批"太搞笑"
Saudi Arabia is in a mess. That conclusion seems to be common ground — the view of serious outside analysts and of the country’s own government. The only question is whether the problems can be corrected by shock treatment of the sort announced in Riyadh last week.
沙特阿拉伯眼下一團糟。這個結論似乎是外界認真的分析師和沙特政府的一致看法。唯一的問題是，這些問題能否通過上週利雅得宣佈的那種休克療法得到解決。
The immediate challenge is clear. Last year, revenue from oil exports fell by 23 per cent. That matters in a country that is 77 per cent dependent on oil income. Unemployment is officially 11.6 per cent, not counting the millions who hold non-jobs in and around the agencies of the state. In total, 70 per cent of Saudis work for the government. In the first half of last year, according to Mohammed al-Sheikh, the chief economic adviser to the all-powerful deputy crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman (known universally as MbS), the kingdom’s financial reserves were being drawn down at a rate that would have exhausted them by the end of 2017 — far earlier than had previously been estimated by outside authorities such as the International Monetary Fund.
直接挑戰顯而易見。去年，來自石油出口的財政收入下滑23%。對於一個77%的財政收入依賴於石油的國家來說，這一點關係重大。在不計算數以百萬計的在政府機構內部及周邊無所事事的僱員的情況下，官方失業率爲11.6%。總共70%的沙特人爲政府工作。去年上半年，爲掌握實權的沙特副王儲穆罕默德•本•薩勒曼（Mohammed bin Salman，被普遍稱爲MbS）擔任首席經濟顧問的穆罕默德•阿爾-謝赫(Mohammed al-Sheikh)表示，沙特王國的資金儲備正在迅速流失，到2017年底就可能會徹底乾涸。這比國際貨幣基金組織(IMF)等外部權威機構此前的預測要早得多。
All those problems were well summed up in a note from McKinseys published at the end of last year that talked of the prospect of a rapid economic deterioration in Saudi Arabia over the next decade.
麥肯錫(McKinsey)去年底發表的一份報告很好地總結了沙特的種種問題，該報告預測了未來10年沙特經濟迅速惡化的前景。
So radical change is needed, which brings us to the announcement last week of MbS’s Vision 2030, designed to create a modern economy free of dependence on oil. The full announcement is worth reading because it demonstrates the sheer scale of the ambition, but a few headlines will give you the flavour.
因此，沙特需要大刀闊斧的改革，這就讓我們回到上週沙特副王儲宣佈的《願景2030》(Vision 2030)。該計劃旨在打造擺脫對石油依賴的現代化經濟體。整套報告值得一讀，因爲它展現了沙特的勃勃雄心，但是幾個標題就會給你一個大致印象。
•A stake in the state-owned oil company will be floated in an IPO within the next two years.
• 未來兩年內，將對沙特國有石油公司的部分股權進行首次公開發行(IPO)。
•The funds from that and other asset sales — perhaps $2tn dollars or more — will be invested in a new sovereign wealth fund to give the country a regular income from non-oil sources.
• 這筆IPO和出售其他資產所得——可能達到2萬億美元以上——將投資於一只新的主權財富基金，使國家得以從非石油類資產獲得固定收入。
•The country will be opened up to tourism.
• 沙特將開放旅遊業。
•Expats will be allowed to own property within Saudi Arabia.
• 允許外國人在沙特境內擁有房地產。
•New small and medium-sized enterprises will be encouraged to the point where they account for 35 per cent of economic activity.
• 政府將鼓勵創辦中小型企業，目標是讓這類企業佔據35%的經濟活動。
•Subsidies for oil, water and electricity will be progressive eliminated.
• 逐步取消對成品油、水和電力的補貼。
•Unemployment will be reduced to 7 per cent
• 將失業率降至7%。
•A range of new industrial sectors will be developed, including petrochemicals, manufacturing and finance on the basis of foreign investment.
• 依靠外資發展一系列新的產業，包括石油化工、製造業和金融業。
•An anti-corruption drive in the Ministry of Defence will be combined with the development of a domestic military equipment business that will be capable of meeting at least half of the country’s needs.
• 將在國防部發起反腐運動，同時發展國內軍工產業，使其至少可以滿足沙特一半的軍事裝備需求。
All this builds on a full-scale McKinsey study called “Saudi Arabia — Beyond Oil”, which was published at the end of last year.
這一切措施都建立在麥肯錫去年底發表的全面報告《沙特阿拉伯——超越石油》(Saudi Arabia — Beyond Oil)之上。
The only problem with this grand plan is that is completely unrealistic. To say, as MbS did last week, that by 2020 Saudi Arabia will no longer be dependent on oil revenue is beyond a dream. To say that the country doesn’t care whether the oil price is $30 a barrel or $70 is ridiculous. But the real problem is the reality when it comes to implementation. Last week’s policy statement makes no reference to any of the difficulties of delivering what is promised.
這份宏偉計劃的唯一問題是它完全不切實際。說沙特到2020年將不再依賴石油收入（就像上週副王儲所說的那樣），簡直比夢話還要烏托邦。說沙特不在乎油價是每桶30美元還是每桶70美元，實在荒唐。但是，真正的問題在於落實這些措施時的現實。上週的政策聲明壓根沒提到兌現這些承諾的難度。
Are we really supposed to believe that Saudi Arabia can create an industry to build technically complex military equipment from a zero base?
我們真的應該相信沙特可以從零開始、創建一個有能力製造先進軍事裝備的產業嗎？
Or to believe that western tourists are going to flock to a country whose laws allow people to be stoned to death for adultery or gay sex? The human rights problems are amply and regularly set out in reports from Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch. How many western women will be happy to slip into a burkini for their holidays?
或是相信西方遊客會蜂擁來到這個依法可對通姦者或同性戀者處以石刑的國家嗎？大赦國際(Amnesty International)和人權觀察組織(Human Rights Watch)的報告中定期詳細描述沙特的人權問題。有多少西方女性願意在度假時套上穆斯林泳裝“布基尼”？
How is the civil service which MBS accepted last week was corrupt and inefficient to be reformed when so many of the brightest and best Saudis are happier to live and work in London or New York?
在那麼多最聰明最優秀的沙特人更樂於在倫敦或紐約工作生活的情況下，怎麼對副王儲承認腐敗而低效的行政部門進行改革呢？
How is Aramco to be converted into a company that can meet western standards of transparency and good governance? Will the kingdom, for instance, allow an independent external analysis of the company’s claimed oil and gas reserves?
沙特阿拉伯國家石油公司（Saudi Aramco，簡稱沙特阿美）如何轉型爲達到西方透明度及優良治理標準的企業？例如，沙特王國會允許外部獨立機構對該公司聲稱的油氣儲量進行分析嗎？
And, perhaps most important of all, how will the Saudi government break the hold ofWahhabist religious fundamentalism, something the royal family has not managed over the last century?
同時，或許最重要的是，沙特政府將如何打破瓦哈比派原教旨主義的控制？過去一個世紀，沙特皇室都沒能做到這一點。
Without a serious analysis of the delivery process, Vision 2030 is meaningless rhetoric. The barriers to progress are not new. They have defeated every attempt to achieve change and reform made by successive Saudi governments. Promises of economic diversification, of industrial development, of education for all and of a transformation of the energy sector through the development of renewables have all ended in failure. To ignore the problems of delivery is to demonstrate the unreality of the whole approach. I hope McKinsey — a firm of the highest integrity — will point this out rather allowing its brand to be tarnished by association with a project that it must know cannot work.
在不對改革落實過程進行認真分析的情況下，《願景2030》只是毫無意義的空談。進步的障礙並不新鮮。它們挫敗了歷任沙特政府推行改變和改革的所有嘗試。對於經濟多元化、工業發展、全民教育以及發展可再生能源以推進能源業轉型的承諾，均以失敗告終。忽視落實過程中面臨的問題，暴露了整個思路的脫離實際。我希望麥肯錫作爲一傢俱有最高誠信的公司指出這一點，而不是任由其招牌被它肯定知道行不通的項目玷污。
The worst thing is that MbS, who is 30 and has not enjoyed the benefit of a western education with its inbuilt tone of scepticism, actually believes what he is saying and does indeed think that he can transform the country by an act of personal will. The deputy crown prince is the sort of character about whom Shakespeare could have written a great play. It would not have ended happily.
最糟糕的是，這位30歲、從未受過西方教育及其內在懷疑思維薰陶的副王儲，實際上相信自己所說的話，真的認爲他可以通過個人意志改變這個國家。他屬於那種可以讓莎士比亞寫出一部偉大劇本的人物類型。該劇本不會以喜劇收場。
It might be tempting to say that these are Saudi Arabia’s problems and that after innumerable further, and no doubt very lucrative, consultancy studies little will change and MbS will be swept away — perhaps by a change of the guard after his father’s death.
人們或許忍不住說，這些都是沙特的問題，在諮詢機構無數次報酬豐厚的進一步研究之後，幾乎什麼都不會改變，副王儲將被踢出歷史舞臺——或許是在其父親去世、王位易主之後。
That view is too narrow. Saudi Arabia matters in the region — look at the damage being done in Yemen and by the wider conflict with Iran which MbS has been stoking. Provocative behaviour, driven on by economic weakness and competition for shares of the oil market, could make a bad neighbourhood even more volatile.
這種觀點太過狹隘。沙特在中東地區至關重要——看看也門遭受的損害，以及沙特與伊朗之間的全方位對抗（這位副王儲正在火上澆油）。受經濟疲軟和爭奪石油市場份額驅動，挑釁行爲可能會讓一個糟糕的地區更加動盪。
And the country matters in the world, as well. Global oil consumption may be coming to its peak but it will stay at around 90 to 100mbd for a very long time. The kingdom is a crucial part of the equation and should be on the side of stability. Pretending the price doesn’t matter reflects a lack of interest or knowledge when it comes to the wider consequences of the policies being pursued.
這個國家對整個世界同樣舉足輕重。全球石油消費可能即將見頂，但仍將在很長時期內保持在每日9000萬至1億桶水平上。沙特王國是石油供需平衡的關鍵組成部分，應該成爲穩定的力量。假裝油價無關緊要反映出，對於政策帶來的更廣泛的後果，某些人要麼不關心、要麼不懂。
For Saudi Arabia, the lack of realism behind Vision 2030 can only make a messy situation worse. For those outside the kingdom, the naivity of the approach is another unwelcome source of instability and danger.
對於沙特阿拉伯來說，《願景2030》背後的不切實際只會讓混亂的局面更加糟糕。對於沙特以外的國家來說，這種戰略的幼稚是另一個不受歡迎的動盪和危險的源頭。
