RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s minister for communications held talks with the UK’s business minister on the growing cooperation between the two countries on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum.
Abdullah bin Amer Al-Swaha met with Grant Shapps – also responsible for Britain’s energy and industrial strategy - in Davos, and the pair discussed the expansion of the strategic partnership in the fields of science, technology, and space, according to the Saudi Press Agency.
As well as meeting with the UK minister, Al-Swaha also held talks with Shri Ashwini Vaishnaw, the Indian federal minister for railways, communications, electronics and information technology.
The pair discussed strengthening the strategic partnership between Saudi Arabia and India in the areas of technology, innovation, and digital entrepreneurship.
The two meetings were also attended by Mohammed Al-Tamimi, the Saudi governor of the Communications, Space & Technology Commission.
The meetings came after Bandar Alkhorayef, the Saudi minister of industry and mineral resources, appeared on a panel with Shapps at the Future Minerals Forum held in Riyadh earlier in January.
The pair agreed that immediate collective action is required to combat climate change and achieve net-zero emissions during a discussion titled “Lands of Opportunity: Enabling Mineral Development in Africa, Western and Central Asia.”
Shapps said that there is significant scope for cooperation between the UK and Saudi Arabia in the clean-energy sector, and emphasized the importance of international collective action to achieve global goals related to the transition.
