The UK ambassador to Saudi Arabia, Neil Crompton, on Wednesday called on the minister of Islamic affairs, dawah and guidance, Dr. Abdullatif Al-Asheikh.
A number of issues of mutual concern were discussed during the meeting, the Saudi Press Agency reported.
Crompton wished for the successful consolidation and further enhancement of bilateral relations and joint cooperation in all fields.
The envoy also recently met Dr. Abdullah Al-Rabeeah, supervisor general of the King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Center (KSRelief). The two men discussed a range of humanitarian matters, as well as the coronavirus pandemic.
“Good conversation with Dr. Al-Rabeeah about our shared COVID-19 and humanitarian agenda, particularly Yemen,” Crompton tweeted after meeting the KSRelief chief. “As co-hosts of the Coronavirus Global Response Summit, I expressed the UK’s thanks for Saudi Arabia’s $0.5 billion assistance to international health organizations.”
The two countries are key strategic partners in the Kingdom’s Vision 2030 reform plan, and both reaffirmed their commitment to building and developing trade and investment, in addition to achieving shared prosperity for citizens of both countries.
Andrew Murrison, who is minister of state at the Department for International Development and minister for the Middle East at the Foreign Office, has described the bilateral relationship as “warm, cordial and positive.”
“Saudi Arabia is extremely important to the UK and we have ties that have gone back for many, many years, and I am confident that that will continue in the course of the new government,” Murrison told Arab News last year.
Crompton was appointed ambassador to the Kingdom in February 2020. Prior to that he led the Middle East and North Africa directorate from 2015 to 2019.
