RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s foreign trade with countries such as Canada, Nigeria, and Indonesia is set to improve following the approval of the formation of several joint business councils.
Mohammed bin Nasser Al-Duleim has been approved as chairman of the Saudi-Canadian Business Council and chairman of the executive committee by the General Authority for Foreign Trade, with Abdullah bin Salem Al-Mukhles and Abdullah bin Ahmed Al-Ahmad as vice-presidents, according to a statement.
This falls in line with the recent development of relations between the two countries and their eagerness to explore ways to enhance developments in various fields.
In 2022, Saudi Arabia was Canada’s most important two-way trading partner in the Middle East and North Africa region and 23rd globally.
Merchandise trade between the two countries in 2022 was approximately $5.1 billion, with $1.3 billion in exports from Canada and $3.8 billion in imports to the country.
The statement further disclosed that the council also approved the nomination of Sultan bin Mahdi Al-Qahtani as chairman of the Saudi-Nigerian Business Council and chairman of the executive committee with Nasser bin Abdulaziz Al-Sudaisand Sultan bin Khalid Al-Turki as vice-chairmen.
This aligns well with the business and diplomacy initiatives created between the two sides to help trade between them blossom.
This comes as relations between the two countries are already strong, with Nigeria being one of the first countries to extend its support in the Kingdom’s bid to host the 2030 World Expo.
According to the online data visualization and distribution platform Observatory of Economic Complexity, in 2022, Nigeria exported $5.94 million to Saudi Arabia, while the Kingdom exported $293 million to the African country.
Additionally, the nomination of Ayman bin Amin Sajini was approved as chairman of the Saudi-Indonesian Business Council and chairman of the executive committee, with Osama bin Abdullah Qoqandi and Saleh bin Abdullah Al-Qabaa appointed as vice-chairmen.
This comes as Saudi-Indonesian ties span centuries but have gained momentum in recent years following King Salman’s visit to Indonesia in 2017, which has since sparked more bilateral exchanges at the political and business levels.
Riyadh and Jakarta established the Saudi-Indonesia Supreme Coordinating Council headed by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and President Joko Widodo during the latter’s visit to the Saudi capital in 2023.
The OEC also revealed that in 2022, Indonesia exported $1.97 billion to Saudi Arabia, while the Kingdom exported $2.77 billion to Indonesia.
