As an academic, with a whimsical and vain desire to be a "public intellectual," I have to admit I like being quoted in newspapers, especially when it is in a foreign language. So I was pretty psyched to see that I was quoted in an arabic language paper. Ordinarily, I would have asked someone to translate the Arabic for me (I can only read street signs and billboards in Arabic), but I did not have the patience, so I decided to give the Internets a spin at translating me back to me.

Here is what I think I said on the topic of a sovereign wealth fund for Saudi Arabia:

It is unclear that sovereign wealth funds are any more adept at investing than any other type of investment fund. As these institutions often operate without transparency, it is difficult to actually assess their performance. Moreover, investments by these funds incur large political costs which can impact the fund's bottom line. For example, Singapore's Temasek Holdings was the center of a political furore after it acquired a stake in Thailand's Shin Corp from the Thai Prime Minister's family. The popular backlash and political turmoil surrounding the transaction resulted in a coup d'etat in Thailand. The incident has strained political relations and resulted in a substantial loss as the share price of Shin Corp has fallen. It does not seem to be wise for the Saudi government to establish a fund on the Singapore model, particularly as Saudi investments abroad will also be subject to significant political scrutiny.

Here it is in Arabian Business.com (the font may not display properly on your computer...)

وقال فيكاش ياداف أستاذ العلوم السياسية في كليات هوبارت أند وليام سمث في نيويورك وأحد الخبراء في الاقتصاد السياسي لسنغافورة أنه:" من غير الواضح ما إذا كانت صناديق الثروة السيادية تملك مهارة في الاستثمار تفوق أي نوع من أنواع أدوات الاستثمار الأخرى. وطالما أن عمل هذه المؤسسات لا يتصف بالشفافية فمن الصعب وضع تقييم واقعي لأدائها ".

وأوضح ياداف أن الاستثمارات المتحققة عن طريق الصناديق السيادية يترتب عليها تكاليف سياسية كبيرة يمكن أن تؤثر في السبب الرئيس وراء إيجاد مثل هذه الصناديق.

وأشار إلى المشكلة السياسية التي واجهتها تيماسيك هولدنجز السنغافورية عندما انصب عليها غضب سياسي بعد استحواذها على حصة في شن كورب التايلندية من عائلة رئيس الوزراء التايلندي.

وقال ياداف لموقع أريبيان بزنس:"أن ردة الفعل لدى عامة الناس والغضب السياسي الذي أحاط بالصفقة أديا إلى حدوث انقلاب سياسي في تايلاند مما تسبب في توتر العلاقات السياسية وأدى إلى خسارة ضخمة نتيجة لانخفاض سعر سهم شن كورب".

وأضاف "لا يبدو انه من الحكمة أن تؤسس الحكومة السعودية صندوق على غرار الطراز السنغافوري لاسيما أن الاستثمارات السعودية الخارجية ستكون هي الأخرى عرضة لقدر كبير من التدقيق الحكومي.

And here is a computer translation:

"He said Vikash Yadav professor of political science at Hobart colleges Land William Smith in New York and an expert in political economy of Singapore that: "it is not clear whether the funds have wealth sovereign skill in investment than any kind of other investment instruments. Long and that the work of these institutions is not transparent, it is difficult to develop a realistic assessment of their performance. "

Yadav said that the investments made through funds sovereign consequent costs can be considerable political influence in the cause behind the creation of such funds.

The political problem faced by Temasek Holdings of Singapore when it was political anger after possession share in waging Corp from the family of Thai Prime Minister of Thailand.

He said Yadav site Directory Business: "The reaction of the general public and political anger surrounding the deal led to a political coup in Thailand, causing tension in political relations and led to a huge loss due to the low price of shares Shen Corp."

He added, "it does not seem wise to establish the Saudi government fund similar to the Singaporean style especially Saudi Foreign investment would be the other subject of a great deal of scrutiny of government."

Reading the automatically translated computer text is like being the end recipient in the children's game of "Telephone." Nevertheless, it is pretty cool to see how quickly a rough translation is possible.

If you read Arabic, the complete article is at Arabian Business.com. If you can't read Arabic, a rough computer translation of the entire article is available from Google.

Labels: press, web technology