JEDDAH: Saudi Arabia’s honorary consuls have been lauded for their work in helping to generate investment opportunities in the Kingdom and abroad.
Khalid bin Faisal Al-Sahli, the Saudi Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ deputy minister for protocol affairs, praised the officials during a speech at a gathering of the country’s Honorary Consuls Council.
He said they played a key role in attracting investment to Saudi Arabia and presenting opportunities to Saudi investors in the countries they represented.
Al-Sahli said: “The honorary consuls, who are citizens, play important roles in representing the brotherly or friendly countries that have assigned them; for their reputation and distinguished work history.”
And he noted the consuls’ involvement in developing economic, commercial, social, and tourism relations between Saudi Arabia and other countries.
“In addition, they take care of the residents living in Saudi Arabia, of the countries that have elected them. Their role in achieving parallel diplomacy is also of high value,” he added.
Sunday’s event, held at the Jeddah Marriott Hotel under the auspices of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, was also attended by Prince Amr bin Mohammed Al-Faisal, along with a number of ambassadors, consuls general, honorary consuls, businesspeople, and media representatives.
Majed Al-Hokair, Denmark’s honorary consul, told Arab News that Saudi Arabia and the Scandinavian nation had enjoyed good relations for decades.
“Denmark is an advanced country in many fields, such as energy, food production, technology, and medical drugs. It is a country with experience, and we are trying to nationalize many of their industries and experience in the Kingdom, and that is what we, in general, are working on as honorary consuls,” he said.
Al-Hokair pointed out that a Danish company had partnered with the Saudi transport ministry to provide logistic services at Jeddah Islamic Port and King Abdulaziz International Airport.
“In the field of energy, for instance, Denmark is cooperating with energy projects in Jouf. In addition, there is huge cooperation between other Danish companies and a number of Saudi ministries, such as the Ministry of Health. Also, there are big food and medical Danish companies partnering with the Saudi side,” he added.
Highlighting the roles and achievements of the HCC, Dr. Mohammed Al-Juhani, the honorary consul of Congo-Brazzaville and the council’s deputy president, said the body consisted of honorary consuls representing 38 countries.
“Part of an honorary consul’s duties is to act as a consul general for any country that has no consul general in Jeddah. This honorary consul is normally named by a foreign country, and their election should, of course, be approved by the Saudi government.”
An honorary consul’s role, he added, was to help a foreign country’s Riyadh-based embassy look after its interests in Saudi Arabia.
“The council was established in 2006 to gather the honorary consuls under one umbrella so that they could communicate with the Saudi foreign affairs ministry, and this is the main reason behind setting up the council.”
Members of the council meet three or four times a year.
Al-Juhani, a retired major general, noted that the HCC planned to launch a platform to present trade and economic opportunities in Saudi Arabia and the countries the consuls represented.
He said: “These will include investment opportunities in Saudi Arabia in different fields, such as tourism, economy, environment, and many other fields, related to trade exchange and investment.”
He added that an honorary consul, according to the Vienna Convention, was a person assigned by a foreign state to his own country, or one from a third-party state, that should be agreed upon by the host nation.
“However, the rules in Saudi Arabia don’t allow third-party state representatives to act as honorary consuls for other countries. The Saudi government only approves Saudi nationals for such a position,” Al-Juhani said.
