Maybe we shouldn't jail them or speak in constant contradictions
U.S. commercial attache to the consulate general in Saudi Arabia Michael McGee told an audience in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia:
First, he demonstrated how poorly Americans can speak English...
“Except for aviation, we have increased our annual exports to the Kingdom to $5.7 billion, while imports from the Kingdom are a whopping $12 billion. The Kingdom thus has a real good trade surplus.”
Then he said going to college in the U.S. (and risking arbitrary arrest) is not as cool as studying online...
He said the US education sector is “losing terribly” after Sept. 11 as students are not going from here to the United States. “Educational institutions have an online system for distance learning, but it is not the same as going to the United States for studies,” McGee added.
And finally, got condescending because Saudis don't rely on ecommerce, which, of course, is something they'd do more of if they purchased elearning services from the United States...
McGee said the Arab world had fallen behind in the use of e-commerce. “However, Saudis have demonstrated they are hungry for technology and this should augur well for the growth of e-commerce and e-business here.”
Dumb.
Posted by Mitch Ratcliffe at February 25, 2003 07:40 PM | TrackBack