Rösler travels to Saudi Arabia with business delegation
The Federal Minister of Economics and Technology, Dr. Philipp Rösler, is today travelling to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, with a delegation of 80 business people. There he will join with the Saudi Finance Minister, Dr. Ibrahim Abdulaziz Al-Assaf, to lead the 18th session of the Saudi-German Joint Economic Commission. He will also meet for bilateral talks with other representatives from the Saudi Government, including Dr. Muhammad Al-Jasser, Minister for Economy and Planning, Dr. Shuweish Al-Duwaihi, Minister of Housing, and Dr. Abdullah Al-Rabeeah, Minister of Health. The meetings are to focus on the expansion of German-Saudi economic relations.
Minister Rösler stated: "Saudi Arabia is an important partner for Germany and one with whom we can tackle the entire spectrum of economic relations on equal terms. The Saudi Government's bold mega projects in the areas of industry, infrastructure, education and health offer tremendous opportunities for a deeper partnership between our companies. The 18th session of the Saudi-German Joint Economic Commission gives us the opportunity to take our co-operation to a new level."
Saudi Arabia is currently planning and undertaking enormous investments: Up to 2020, 300 billion US dollars are to be invested in petrochemicals, electricity generation, power station construction and water, and a further 100 billion US dollars in residential construction, transport and logistics projects. The current five-year plan sets out a total investment volume of 740 billion US dollars. This is to be used to fund the rebuilding of entire towns and industrial complexes, such as the King Abdullah Economic City, an industrial complex costing around 6 billion US dollars, or the Yanbu Integrated Refinery & Petrochemicals Complex, for which 20 billion US dollars will be invested.
In 2011, Germany exported goods worth a total of 6.8 billion euros (up 18% on the previous year), making it Saudi Arabia's third most important exporter (behind the USA and China). In the first quarter of 2012, German exports had already reached around 2.4 billion euros. In 2011, exports from Saudi Arabia to Germany totalled 0.9 billion euros. Of the 100 largest listed companies in the MENA (Middle East and North Africa) region, around 34 are based in Saudi Arabia. This is compared to a total of 27 companies last year. The next meeting of the Saudi-German Joint Economic Commission is to take place in Berlin in two years' time.
