RIYADH: Senior-level officials from government and private sectors from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) and Russia are set to meet in St. Petersburg today as part of the highest level of bilateral trade discussions between the two countries in years. The Russian-Saudi Business Council Forum, which commenced today, coincides with a meeting between His Royal Highness Mohammad bin Salman Al Saud, Deputy Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
A trade delegation including Saudi Arabian General Investment Authority (SAGIA) will meet with key Russian counterparts to explore the growing investment potential between the two countries. The Forum follows the Russian Business Week in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, organized earlier this year alongside the Jeddah Economic Forum, and attended by government representatives and entrepreneurs.
The delegation taking place from June 17-19th June 2015 will be marked by The Russian-Saudi Business Council Forum on the 17th, and several high-level meetings, including those between the heads of the Russian-Saudi Intergovernmental Joint Committee; His Excellency Abdullatif Al-Othman, the Governor of SAGIA and official representative of the Saudi Ministry of Commerce and Industry, and the Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak.
Saudi Arabia has established an investment plan to improve the global competitiveness of the Kingdom’s key industries including energy, construction, retail, tourism, real estate, healthcare, transport and mining. The investment plan for healthcare alone features more than 40 opportunities worth $71 billion.
H.E. Abdullatif Al-Othman, the Governor of SAGIA, commented, “We are keen to develop our already close-knit ties with Russia which remains one of our priority markets in terms of investor-potential. As an economy that is increasingly diversified, we are keen to grow internal sectors that have been classically domains of Russian expertise.”
Abdul Rahman Al-Zamil, Chairman of the Council of Saudi Chambers, Chairman of the Riyadh Chamber of Commerce and Industry and Chairman of Al-Zamil Group added, “Promoting cooperation between Russian and Saudi business is easier now than ever before. We welcome our Russian counterparts to the Kingdom to contribute the development of key economic sectors. The economic success of the kingdom is dependent on the development of Human Capital therefore such relationships are key the our overall economic plan”
Vladimir Evtushenkov, Chairman of the Russian-Arab Business Council, and Chairman of Sistema JSFC (LSE: SSA), added: “Judging by the current state of affairs in trade and economic relations between Russia and Saudi Arabia, in due course we can achieve an active cooperation in every single sphere of business. Russia has a brilliant opportunity to establish new ties with the Saudi side in agriculture, timber, high technologies, engineering, pharmaceutical products, oil and gas, telecommunications, and many other fields. Now that we have started a new era in Russia-Saudi relations, the time has come to turn to something real, to concrete projects. This is the only way to realize our ambitions and our potential.”
