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    Global Quality expert at the International Academy for Quality (IAQ) In the USA Dr. George Watson, emphasized that KSA is the second country  after China in the world to possess a comprehensive and specific national strategy for quality, noting that what other countries have is  partial programs for quality and not a comprehensive project sponsored by the state with its full institutions.

      That was mentioned during a session about the future of quality in the Kingdom chaired by His Excellency Dr. Saad Al Kasabi, Governor of  SASO,  Chairman of the Steering Committee of The Fifth National Quality Conference, in which the Expert Watson stressed on the importance of the role played by educational institutions through their educational curricula for quality promotion  and consolidation within the individual since childhood, and the impact of that on the creation of excellence, whether in work, family, relatives or friends. At the same time, he was denying  most frequents about the difference between quality and cost, stressing that maintaining or applying  quality does not mean more costs.

   Engineer Abdullah Al Qahtani, Deputy Governor of the specifications and laboratories in SASO, has reviewed (National Strategy for Quality project) and in which he has given a quick and concise description of the national strategy for the quality  project since its inception as an idea until  it was declared in the Fourth National Quality Conference.  In addition, what SASO has done by working with business partners has been made during the last period of the theoretical framework of the strategy. He noted that the project of future quality strategy of the kingdom in which 106 national institutions in seven sectors participated to measure the readiness of sectors for the strategy application , seeks to achieve several outcomes as an implementation of the Royal vision "for KSA with its products and services to be worldwide standard for quality and proficiency in 2020, " pointing out that the SASO adopts the project of developing the national quality strategy in with cooperation with all sectors in the country, which represents an important addition  to the process of quality in the Kingdom.

      The Saudi Quality Council, revealed that 3000 Saudi establishments received ISO 9001 certificate. The Council also emphasized  that 134 establishments in the governmental and private sectors have participated in the second national survey of quality in 2015. The participation of the industrial sector and the service sector in the questionnaire was 53% in 17 cities in the Kingdom . 

      Dr. Ayed Omari, President of the Saudi council for quality in the Western Region, assured that 58% of participants in the second national survey of quality have an official in the quality management. The  industrial sector was in the top in matters of applying the concept of quality. 84%  and 81% of these participating departments in the survey, focused on training to achieve quality.

         Dr. Omari  has determined five obstacles in the way of  applying quality in public and private establishments. These obstacles are; resistance to change, weakness of quality awareness/ culture for leaderships, training limitedness,  limitations to accepting personnel enthusiasm and lack of commitment to application.

    While Dr. Hussein al-Qurashi, Vice President of Saudi Society for Quality, welcomed having the specialization "Total quality" in Saudi universities, revealing that one of the private Saudi universities has a trend  to open a section that deals with quality and provide bachelor's grade in quality. Furthermore, in the future, the university will work on granting higher education. He also stressed that the female element  will be present at the Assembly after the completion of the now going on restructuring  .

     The Fifth National Quality Conference continued giving lectures and scientific papers on its third day where the issue of (creativity and innovation) was discussed at its first session, yesterday ( Thursday). Three lecturers spoke at the session, who are Dr. Mohammed Jassim Bohadji, Director of organizational study unit and decision making (University of Bahrain), Dr. Saeed Yahya Al Shahrani, Director of department of analytical laboratories – SABIC centre for plastic applications at SABIC - Saudi Arabia, and Mr. Sven-Åke Herbertsson, IKEA Supply Chain - Product Compliance Manager –Sweden. The Session was chaired by His Excellency Dr. Khalid Al Sabti, member of The Shura Council - Secretary-General of The King Abdulaziz and His Companions Foundation for Giftedness and Creativity " Mawhiba ".

     The first lecture focused on the theme of (creativity and leadership) and was presented by Dr. Mohammed Jassim Bohadji, Director of organizational study unit and decision making (University of Bahrain).  He discussed the accelerated developments in the field of competitiveness and their effect on the economy through the need to acquire the latest technology as well as to acquire the spirit of innovation, creativity, leadership and inspiration. That is in order to open new horizons for humanity, for researchers and for appliers to develop their institutions and communities, and to facilitate the transformation that depends on development not gradual growth which is associated with the resources and systems . That is easily seen through that new wave of creativity and innovation.

     Dr. Saeed Yahya Al Shahrani has reveiwd, during his lecture, the experience of Saudi Basic Industries Corporation(SABIC), and pointed out the need for industrial organizations to develop their outputs and working methods to improve their results and achieve excellence, which will only be possible with creativity and innovation. Excellence is a natural result of the process of creativity and innovation. The creativity and innovation process aim to improve the production process, improve the quality of products and services, penetrate foreign markets, and to achieve competitive advantage.

     Al Shahrani has also spotlighted the dependence of the technology sector and innovation in (SABIC) on research and innovations as a cornerstone to achieve sustainable growth, and to develop competitiveness of the company. He has also reviewed the most important large research resources of SABIC around the world. Furthermore, he has pointed out that innovation is the driving force for all what they are doing in the company, and a fuel for SABIC in its quest to become among the most innovative companies in the world. The technology and innovation sector at (SABIC) aspires to become one of the most important sectors in contributing to develop the company's business.

     Al Shahrani has reviewed SABIC's efforts to expand its network in the field of innovation and cooperation, as well as the role of SABIC in supporting scientific research in Saudi universities, and reinforcing its close cooperation with universities and research centers through issuing many research programs. These programs should include grants and funding programs for the development of the latest scientific research in KSA, believing that a creative and innovative culture leads Saudi youth to continuous development, and strengthens the link with the industrial sector in the Kingdom. In addition to that, SABIC pays special interest in establishing and financing specialized scientific chairs at universities in many industrial fields.