STOCKHOLM: Commerce Minister Dr. Majid bin Abdullah Al-Qasabi and Swedish Foreign Trade Minister Anna Hallberg inaugurated the Saudi-Swedish Business Council in Stockholm on Thursday.
Council members and representatives from the business and investment sectors in the two countries took part in the event.
Al-Qasabi, who is also the chairman of the board of the General Authority for Foreign Trade, said that the council was a mainstay in stimulating and encouraging the private sector on both sides.
It contributed to developing bilateral relations, exchanging expertise and knowledge, and setting plans and programs to seize investment opportunities and turn them into tangible partnerships, he said.
Saudi Arabia was “keen to enhance trade cooperation, facilitate exports to Sweden and the Scandinavian countries and exchange expertise and knowledge,” Al-Qasabi said.
Saudi Arabia is Sweden’s largest economic partner in the Middle East and No. 1 trade partner among the Scandinavian countries, with the volume of trade exchange in the past five years reaching more than $6 billion.
Al-Qasabi urged Swedish companies to invest in the Kingdom in promising sectors and to take advantage of the opportunities and initiatives of the Kingdom Vision 2030, especially in manufacturing industries and areas such as e-commerce and information technology.
He touched on the most prominent economic reforms related to Vision 2030, the most important investment opportunities, and the Kingdom’s achievements in empowering women, preserving the environment, and in the clean and renewable energy fields, and progress in commercial policies and in improving the business environment.
Meanwhile, the Saudi-Swedish Joint Committee was convened to enhance cooperation, headed by Jaber Al-Mishal, deputy governor of the General Authority for Foreign Trade.
The minutes of the meeting of the joint committee were signed, which outline the road map for strengthening cooperation in all sectors between the two countries. SPA Stockholm
